Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. A Szent István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 32. 2002 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (2003)
Tanulmányok – Abhandlungen - Lukács László: Multiethnic and Homogenous Periods in the History of Székesfehérvár. p. 43–51.
Alba Regia XXXII, 2003 LÁSZLÓ LUKÁCS MULTIETHNIC AND HOMOGENOUS PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR HISTORY AND SITUATION OF THE GERMAN MINORITY From the Middle Ages to the middle of the 20 century one can often find in the more significant central European towns dwellers of German origin, German quarters, German streets and churches that fostered the soul of the inhabitants. We know that the inhabitants in Székesfehérvár in the Middle Ages were Hungarians, Walloons, so there must have been a German street, a German church. Here in Székesfehérvár, the present Kossuth Street was the German street (Vicus Teutonicalis). The authors of two German travelogues claim that the German church is identical with the coronation church of Hungarian kings, the Virgin Mary basilica. In his book entitled The new description of the Hungarian kingdom, provinces, towns and significant places (published in Leipzig in 1664) Martinus Zeiler writes about Székesfehérvár that 'kings were crowned and buried here in the early times. In the entire Hungary there was not a pompous temple like this...The coronation and burial took place in the Virgin Mary or else the German church.' The same thing can be read in a Transylvanian Saxon author, Georg Krekwitz's book, entitled The description of the entire Hungarian Kingdom (Totius Regni Hungáriáé Descriptio), published in German language, in Nürnberg and Frankfurt in 1685. There he identifies the Virgin Mary basilica {Unsere Frauen Kirche) with the German church (Teutsche Kirche). The two travelogues date back to the period that preceded the liberation from Turkish occupation in 1688, a period when German population was unexistent in Székesfehérvár. From 1543 there were Turks and Slavs (Serbs) living alongside Hungarians (Siklósi 1995, 295303), who preserved and passed on the tradition that the royal church served as the place of worship for the Germans of Székesfehérvár before the Turkish occupation. I shall mention, that the Church of Our Lady in Buda (Matthias Church, Coronation Church) with the cemetery of the Germans around, from the second half of the 14* century on was the church of the Germans resettled from Pest (Berza 1993, II. 169). The Christian soldiers, who conquered the town on 19 th of May 1688, found devastated streets and thinly populated houses in the castle. Due to lack of food and dim prospects a part of the Turkish families living in the castle fled before the coming of the Christian troops. In the Turkish era the Hungarian population lived mainly in Budai and Palotai suburbs. These suburbs were destroyed by fire in 1686. As a result many people became homeless and fled joined by the others who feared the siege of the town. After the withdrawal of the Turkish troops, the Hungarian population previously living in the town moved back first, followed by others who moved into the liberated town. These new settlers came from such Hungarian counties as Komárom, Győr, Veszprém, and Vas. These people were mainly craftsmen and tradesmen from Komárom, Sárvár, Körmend, Pápa, and Győr. (Philiph 1933, 10-11; Jenei 1968, 176). In the Rácváros, part of the Palotai suburb, Serbian soldiers who served in the Turkish army settled down together with their families. The main task of János Lénárt Herdegen fiscal provisor of Buda and Gábor Kränzer vice-provisor - the leaders of the civil administration - was the settling of the town and the partition of the empty, tottering houses. At the distribution of the houses the officers and the common soldiers before discharge had the advantage. Among them, Ferenc Babocsay captain-general of Veszprém, Maj. Péter Bisterzky vice-commandant of the town, János Eszterházy, János Zichy, István Zichy vice-generals, István Miskey, István Újvári major of Győr, Simon Péter Csáky liutenant of Komárom, Ferdinánd Witzendorf liutenant of Győr, György Tatai Kovács, János Bende, János Lendvay voivods of Pápa, and a few other gunners received a house 49
