Hungary and the city of Debrecen

Country info:

• Hungary is a European Union member country located in Central Europe
• the country has borders with Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia
• population ca. 10 million

City info:

• with 220 thousand inhabitants Debrecen is the second largest city in the country
• it is a cultural, educational and economic center of Eastern Hungary
• seat of Hungarian Protestantism

 
City life:

• year round high-quality programs including festivals, concerts and all sorts of sporting events
• main attractions and places to visit:
  • Hortobágy National Park
  • Great Forest of Debrecen
  • Aquaticum Medicinal and Bath Centre w/ Mediterranean Pleasure Bath
  • Debrecen Zoo
  • Lake Békás 
  • Főnix hall – national and international sports events center (capacity: 8,000 spectators)
  • Debrecen Ice Rink
  • indoor swimming pool with several pools
  • Kölcsey Convention Centre – the largest conference center of Eastern Hungary (capacity: 1,150 people)
  • MODEM (Modern and Contemporary Arts Centre)

Brief history

• 1235 – First reference to Debrecen in ancient charters
• 1538 – Establishment of the College of the Reformed Church in Debrecen
• 1567 – Higher education starts in the College
• 1693 – Debrecen is declared a free royal town
• 1849 – Debrecen is the capital of Hungary
• 1912 – Establishment of the State University of Debrecen with Faculties of Arts, Law, Medicine and Theology
• 1914 – Some parts of the university are functioning in the College building
• 1918 – Inauguration of the Main Building of the Medical Faculty by King Charles IV of Hungary
• 1921 – The Medical Faculty starts to function
• 1932 – Building of the campus is finished
• 1944 – During the world war the town is again the capital of Hungary but the university gets abandoned for a while
• 1949 – The only year the university has five faculties
• 1950 – Faculty of Law idles, Faculty of Science is established
• 1951 – The university is divided into three parts (Academy of Theology, Medical School, Lajos Kossuth University of Arts and Science)
• 1991 – Debrecen Universitas Association is established
• 1998 – Federation of Debrecen Universities is founded
• 2000 – The federation transforms into the unified Debrecen University with all the customary faculties and 20 thousand students.