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.

of 1885, only the members of the family Wünsch were attending the mass in the Cistercian church. Seeing this the priest asked the following from Mr. Wünsch: 'Herr Wünsch, wünschen Sie, dass ich deutsch predige?' The answer was: 'Nein, Hochwürden, ich wünsche das nicht!' (Farkas 1978, 256-258; 1982, 338-339). The data concerning the ethnic, language and religious composition of the citizens are the following: the German burghers of the town were always in minority in comparison with the Hungarian majority. At the beginning of the 18

th century the burghers of German origin gained political power due to their wealth, and their buildings were among the most beautiful in the town. The common Roman Catholic religion did not divide the Hungarian and German citizens of the town. The Hungarian inhabitants of the vicinity, the ideas of the Hungarian national movement and the civic development all contributed to the quick magyarization of the Germans citizens. The famous burgher families of the 18

th and 19

th century have disappeared by now. In the 1920s, the mayor of Székesfehérvár was asked to provide information about the famous Hiemer family whose history dates back 150 years. The official answer was that no family with this name could be found in the history of the town (Farkas 1994a, 14). Maybe we find their tombs. The tomb of Mihály Hiemer town judge (1726f) is in the St. Anna Chapel. Several illustrious families of Székesfehérvár are buried in the crypt of the episcopal church. Their epitaphs in Latin, German or Hungarian can be read once a year on All Soul's Day, when the crypt is open for the public. I have not found any tombstone written in German in the Long-cemetery. In the Csutora-cemetery I have found one German tombstone, of Anton Walch, a stone-carver and council member, who died in 1836. The obelisk was probably too high to destroy or take away. The tombstones of the Csutora-cemetery save the family names of the peasant-burghers of partly German origin from the Upper town (Szalczgruber, Jungbluth, Polcer, Neubauer, Paulusz, Renner, Wagner) and of Hungarian families, who were living together and marrying them from the turn of the century (Almási, Nemes, Tőke, Liszi, Rábaközi, Szatmári, Antal, Fekete, Pénzes, Viniczai, Mészáros, Papp, Peresztegi Nagy). Lots of well-known persons lie here, including the two vicar families with Magyarized names. Ferenc Bilkei (1872-1955) rural dean, member of the St. Stephen Academy, his father, Ágoston Reisenauer (1840-1898), his mother Jozefa Heinrich (1847-1925). Ferenc Bilkei wrote several books, edited the Diary of Fejér County. The other vicar was Antal Kisteleki (1912— 1980), his father Ferenc Knitlhofer (1872-1961), his mother Julianna Tőke (1875-1946). My informants from the Upper town could speak German, they were attending the German masses. The mother of Anna Lits told me they used to pray to Prophet Elias for rain or good weather, to St. Vendel for the thriving of animals, to St. Donat for good vintage and they honoured St. Isidorus as the patron saint of agriculture. They had brought these customs from the South German territories in the 18

th century to Székesfehérvár and preserved them until the 1960s. Those burghers who attended the services in German that had died out by 1885 were lying in St. Anna chapel or in Long or else Csutora-cemetery when new settlers of German origin arrived from the regions of Bakony, Vértes and Tolna county. After the compulsory co-operative farm system of the 1960s, lots of them were looking for workplaces civic and industrial workplaces and new homes. As a result of the local elections of 1998, the German minority self-government of Székesfehérvár got 9440 votes and 5 deputies were elected. In the office of the organisation consulting hours are held every Tuesday afternoon. In order to function, the German minority self-government gets financial support from the local government, the central budget and the trade practice tax. It has organised so far three language camps for primary school children, where songs and games are taught in German. In the Gyöngyvirág kindergarten a German group was created, while in the Herman Ottó primary school a German class was set up. In the latter students learn German language, songs, dances and culture five hours a week. In the last two years the German minority self-government organised on the 5

th of May the Day of the Germans from Székesfehérvár (May 5 being Bavarian Gizella'

s nameday who was the wife of King Saint Stephen (1000-1038). In the frame of this feast, sermons were held in German in the Cistercian church in 2000 and 2001. In the afternoon German cultural programmes were organised whose aim was to preserve the heritage. In 1994 the Cistercian order got back its church and secondary school in Székesfehérvár. To the initiation and with the contribution of the students of Saint Stephen Cistercian Secondary School, there were two sermons conducted in German in the last two years in the Cistercian Church. The vicar Ottó Ujfalussy held the service in German in front of a large audience consisting of students, teachers, parents and believers belonging to the Cistercian order on 15 October 2000 and on the 4

th of March 2001. His helpers in reading out the holy lesson and grievances were those students who had made a significant progress in German language. In this way the old tradition, broken twice in 1543 and 1885, was renewed after 115 years at the very end of the second millennium. The German sermons in Székesfehérvár and the foundation of the German self-government were awakened by the youth of this town who will grow up in the new millennium and become central European citizens as a result of their noble efforts. 54