Urban history

Balatonalmádi is a small town situated on the northeastern part of Lake Balaton, which has 9400 permanent inhabitants. It has been inhabited since ancient times:

• An 8000-year old, Stone Age surface and a furnace with one metre of diametre was found by archaeologists during the groundwork of the new school in Vörösberény;
• 6000-year old, Neolithic Age burned pots, kneaded from chaff mixed with clay, have been found in the vineyard of Vörösberény called ”Kunföldek”;
• A 5000-year old, Neolithic Age axe made of serpentine stone turned up on the hill named ”Öreghegy”;
• Two 4000-year old, waterfront residences are known from Copper Age;
• 3000-year old, Bronze Age dishes were recovered on the ”Kunföldek”;
• 2000 years ago the setting of the Romans started, and a water pipe was excavated from the soil, which led the water of the nearby sources to the Roman landlords’ farms, the manors.

Almádi is first mentioned in a Latin-language charter about a vine chaffer in 1493, in the form of ’in promontorio possesionis Zarbereny in loco Almadi vote sitam’(that is, ’on the vineyard of Szárberény, in a place called Almádi’). Another two charters mention the name of Almádi (prior to the battle of Mohács), and they are both about vineyards. In later written memories Almádi is repeatedly mentioned as a vineyard, and later as a vine municipality. Its squire was the Chapter of Veszprém, who the vignerons paid a tithe to. They could freely sell and buy the vineyards, with the knowledge of the Chapter, of course, as the vigneron had to know who paid, or perhaps not paid the tithe.

Almádi used to exist as an independent vine municipality until 1848, but in 1849 it lost its independence, because the Austrian administration attached it to the settlement of Szentkirályszabadja. According to the decision of the county assembly issued on July 15th 1869, the settlement was given back its right to represent itself as a municipality, however, it could only handle taxation alone in 1877. At the end of the 1880s the phylloxera epidemic almost entirely eradicated the vineyards. This intensified the use of buildings in the vineyard as summer houses, and the trend of their utilization. This process did not cease after the domiciliation of new vines either. Summer houses, also suitable for winter use, were built on the sometimes more acres of vineyards, often with the alteration of the old vine cellar - press house buildings. The appearance of this need generated the splitting up of lands into several parcels.

In line with written sources, the bath life in Almádi started in 1874, as this was the first officially opened season. Lőrinc Brenner builder from Veszprém (and also a vigneron from Almádi) built the first eight bath cabins in 1877, on a territory rented from the Chapter, near the sanctuary lamp, toward the port. It should be noted here that at that time the water of Lake Balaton belonged to the settlements, that is, to the landlord, too. The Almádi Fürdő Rt. (Almádi Bath Plc.), which was founded in 1883, continually extended this small bathhouse, until its demolition in 1926, when already 130 cabins were available to guests.

There were two determining factors in the development of the settlement and its becoming a spa town: the two public limited companies of Almádi, the (Almádi Bath Plc.), which was founded in 1883, and after its liquidation the Balatonalmádi Fürdő és Építő Rt. (Bath and Building Plc.), founded in 1918. Their operation embraced the difficult period between 1883 and 1939, during which Almádi could develop dynamically in spite of the depressions and economic crises. Under the operation of both public limited companies, there were a lot of constructions, besides the summer houses and residents built by individuals. Very few of them survived until today.

In the spring of 1899 the Almádi Fürdő Rt. (Almádi Bath Plc.) and the Országos Magyar Kneipp Egyesület (Hungarian National Association of Kneipp) agreed that the Kneipp Intézet (Kneipp Institution) should be established in Almádi. The decision was followed by quick action and on 10th July 1899 the „Gyógyház” (Healing House) was opened, and soon became very popular. Kneipp’s hydrotherapy, Ricikli’s sun and air treatment and Lahmann’s healthy nutrition policy were introduced. Based on these treatments, Almádi received the rank of a spa town, and the Spa Rules of Almádi, worded in 1899, was followed by the issue of the Thermal Regulation of Almádi.

The Balatonalmádi Fürdő és Építő Rt. (Balatonalmádi Bath and Building Plc.) established in 1918 started the construction of a modern, monumental, sandy beach in 1922, which was completed by the holiday season of 1926, and it had more than 500 cabins, and was considered the largest beach of the northern shore. By 1943 it was demolished, and a new beach was built to replace it immediately, which was opened for the season of 1944. Today it is known as the Wesselényi Beach, and in the meantime its area was extended, and its buildings were converted. There has been a significant sporting life in Almádi since the beginning of the 1880s. The earliest data reports about clay pigeon shooting. Later no season could pass without one or two swimming or athletics competitions. Tennis has already been a popular sport in 1896 as it is testified by a letter. Two tennis courts were available to guests then, and we have no information about when exactly the courts were built or when the amateur tennis life began. The real professional tennis life started in the beginning of the 1930s, when international competitions and domestic league matches were organized in Almádi on the six, beautifully constructed, competition sized, good quality red clay courts.

In 1913 the Almádi Division of Balaton Yacht Club was formed. Their first „club-house”, as it is testified by contemporary postcards, was a few square metres big, wooden cottage, which stood on a simple gang-board, protruding from a pier. In August, 1925 the new, still standing club-house was inaugurated on the area leased from the chapter. The building was later nationalized. The sailing sport was not so determining, as it was in Balatonfüred or Siófok, for instance. According to the contemporary definition, Almádi was a friendly, charming, not a cosmopolitan resort, and the sailing life suitably.

In the 1930s there were ”Balaton Championships” organized in Almádi, with the participation of illustrious domestic and foreign sportsmen, primarily in the field of tennis. In the framework of the „International Sports Week” from 1933 Almádi annually hosted the competitions of tennis, fencing, table tennis and equestrian sports, all being parts of the international athletic meetings. In the second half of the 1930s, Almádi could organize tennis tournaments for the Central European Cup. According to a press coverage, which was published in 1934, 500 sportsmen and their accompaniment were the guests of Almádi.

By the beginning of 1940 the international and national competitions and sporting events ended, because the enthusiasm and interest experienced in the 1930s died down. The reason for it was partly the shortage of modern, international level accommodation in Almádi. One or more, high-capacity hotels would have been needed, and although there have been plans about their construction for years, there were no entrepreneurs to build them. The liquidation of the Balatonalmádi Fürdő és Építő Rt. in 1939 and the limits to the war years strongly hindered or held back the opportunities both of the sporting events and the constructions.

Today’s Balatonalmádi came into being by the merger of four old settlements: Vörösberény, Almádi, Káptalanfüred and Budatava.

The village of Vörösberény already existed in the years of the Settlement of the Magyars in Hungary. According to the first Greek charter which contains the names of Hungarian settlements, King St. Stephen donated it (with 48 houses and 6 fishermen under the name of Szárberény) to the Greek nuns of Veszprémvölgy. We can find the oldest building of the settlement, the Reformed church fortified with stone walls, which is unique in the Balaton Uplands, in this part of the town. The 11th-12th century Roman-Gothic style church, which appears in the coat-of-arms of the town, was first mentioned in 1290. In 1789 it was added a Baroque style tower. The other significant historical building of Vörösberény is the Baroque style, Roman Catholic church, which was erected to the honour of St. Ignatius and was consecrated in 1799. Its frescos, altars and pulpit are prominent artistic creations. In the summers it gives place to classical music concerts. Next to the church we can find the building of the former Jesuit monastery, which was built in the middle of the 17th century in Baroque style.

Almádi’s name was first mentioned in a charter from 1493. For centuries, vine cultivation, due to the favourable location and climate of the town, was the most profitable economic sector and source of livelihood in the area until the ravages of the phylloxera in the mid-1880s. Almádi’s territory, and the vineyards of Almádi and Belény used to belong to the chapter of Veszprém, as he was the landlord of the area. The town received an independent status in 1869, and from 1901 it was renamed Balatonalmádi. In 1889 Almádi got involved in the regular boat traffic on Lake Balaton, and the rail traffic also started in 1909.

A special momentum was given to the settlement by the local promotion of naturopathic methods at the beginning of the 1900s. Later these treatments lost their importance, but by that time Almádi had become well-known as a spa town. Wealthy families populate the beach in the summers. The contemporary newspapers correspond about tennis tournaments, swimming, water-polo, athletics and sailing competitions, but also report on soirees, amatuer shows, children’s balls and raffle evening parties. The contemporary postcards depict ladies smiling on us in long dresses and with parasols,  cavaliers promenade in their hats on the beach, and we can almost hear the gypsy music coming from the bandstand and the gardens of the restaurants. The memory of cheerful, lively summers becomes alive again.

In the part of the town called Almádi there are not many historic sights (due to its young age), but  the wooden-laced villas with verandas from the beginning of the century are real local attractions. Paramount is the St. Imre Catholic Church, which was built in 1930 from the typical rock and building material of the area, the red Permian sandstone.  Beside the church, in the Holy Right Chapel one can see the golden mosaic depicting St. Stephen, which was rescued and moved here from the Buda Castle after World War II. The church also has a unique collection of relics: a fragment of the Holy Right and the relics of St. Imre and Blessed Gisela of Hungary.

Káptalanfüred used to be located on the western part of today’s Balatonalmádi, and it is a holiday resort. Its emergence began in 1930, when the owner of the area, the Chapter of Veszprém decided to create parcells on the 101 acre big, contiguous woodland made up of pine and oak trees. The bedrock of the area is the approximately 240 million years old so-called red, Upper-Permian sandstone, which is on the surface in most parts of the settlement, thus constituting a significant building material for constructions. The flora and the fauna, and the geological formations of the settlement has been granted local immunity since the subdivision of the area.

The spa town, which belonged administratively to Alsóörs, was improving fast. It had several names then: Alsóörs-Szentmihályfürdő, Balatonkáptalan-telep, Balatonkáptalan-fürdő, and from1938 it was called Káptalanfüred.

The settlement received a railway station in 1935 at the junction of the Budapest- Tapolca and Győr-Veszprém-Alsóörs railroads. The neighbouring rail bridge was built in 1940, when driveway number 71, which crosses the town, was modernized. The bridge was damaged during World War II., and it was rebuilt in 1949. Finally it was  demolished in December 1973, after the railroad leading to Veszprém had been closed (in 1969). The internal road network of the settlement first constituted of dirt roads, and their modernization was justified by the building of the bus network in the second half of the 1960s, after the closure of the railroad.

The development of the beach started parallel with the excavations of the parcelling in the second half of the 1930s. The landowners could use the beach preferentially. Recreation took place besides the initial vacation apartment buildings in youth campsites, where mainly scouts and university students stayed for the summer, and from 1960s and 1970s the youth was accommodated in modern chalets around the lake of Köcs. In addition to these opportunities, holiday homes of different institutions and guesthouses were built and have been operated up till now. Tourism stimulated the catering industry, retail and services, which have been present from 1937, and from the 1950s the public network incorporated these functions until the change of regim.

The four parts of the settlement have coalesced by now, and they have become one of the favourite holiday resorts of the northern part of Lake Balaton.

Balatonalmádi, the friendly spa town is waiting for you all the year round.