Hungary

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1

Libraries and Museums

Hungary has more than 5,000 public libraries, the largest of which is the National Széchényi Library in Budapest, founded in 1802; it contains some 2.4 million books and 4.2 million other archives. Other important libraries, all in Budapest, are the National Archives, the library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the Library of Parliament. Besides regional and municipal public libraries, Hungary has trade union libraries and scientific libraries.

Among the leading museums in Hungary are the Hungarian National History Museum, which contains collections tracing the history of Magyar society and culture since the 9th century; the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts; and the Hungarian National Museum of Natural History. All three are located in Budapest. More than 100 public museums are maintained throughout Hungary.

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Art

Only a few Hungarian artists are internationally renowned. Hungarian painting reached the peak of its development during the Romantic period in the 19th century. Notable painters included Mihály Munkácsy, Viktor Madarász, Pál Szinyei Merse, and Mihály Zichy. László Moholy-Nagy was a leading 20th-century artist. In monumental sculpture notable works were created by György Zála and Alajos Stróbl von Liptóujúar. During the period of Communist rule, Socialist Realism predominated in Hungarian art.

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Music

The introduction of Christianity into Hungary in the 10th century brought with it the use of sacred music from Western Europe. The music consisted of Gregorian chants and, after the Reformation, of Protestant chorales. Secular music was largely influenced by styles from the East. A distinctive instrumental and vocal style was brought into Hungary during the 15th century by the Roma, who may have come from as far away as India. In addition, Hungarian folk music absorbed features of Oriental harmony, for example, the organization of melodies by modes or scales from the Turks, who occupied the country in the 16th and 17th centuries.

During the 17th and 18th centuries princely courts such as that of the Esterházy family often had orchestras and opera companies of their own, in which foreign musicians were employed. In 1761, the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn was employed as court composer by the Esterházys. During his 30 years in their service, he worked first at their palace in the town of Eisenstadt (today in Austria), and later at the magnificent palace built by Prince Miklós József near the town of Fertöd, in Hungary.

In the 19th century Hungary produced its first important native-born composer, Ferenc Erkel, who composed the Hungarian national anthem and the first Hungarian opera. The Hungarian-born composer and pianist Franz Liszt spent most of his life in other countries. The later composer Ernst von Dohnányi, like Erkel, was greatly influenced by German composers.

German music continued to be the dominant influence on Hungarian music until the 20th century, when the music of Béla Bartók and Zóltan Kodály began to gain international acceptance. Beginning in 1905, Bartók and Kodály collected and published thousands of Hungarian folk tunes and used them or their characteristic features in their own music. In the late 1950s, however, younger Hungarian composers began to reject this folk music style and to explore more recent approaches to composition.

IV

Economy

Before World War II, the economy of Hungary was based primarily on agriculture, and what little industry the country had was almost entirely destroyed during the war. After the Communists took power in 1948, the Hungarian government promulgated a series of long-range economic development plans, in which the emphasis was on industrialization. Neglecting consumer goods and the service industries, the government devoted its investments to establishing heavy industry. Since the 1960s more emphasis has been placed on the manufacturing of consumer goods. Beginning in 1968 economic decision-making was decentralized to a limited extent. With the election of a non-Communist government in 1990, Hungary accelerated its transition from a centrally planned economy to one based on free market principles. This opened the country to tourism, which rapidly became an important part of the economy. In 2004, Hungary’s gross national product (GNP) was US$84,567 million; equivalent to US$10,070 per head (World Bank figure). Budgeted annual revenue in 2005 was estimated at US$46,942 million; expenditure, US$39,235 million.

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Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Approximately 53.6 per cent of the total area of Hungary is arable (2005 figure). In the mid-1980s about 94 per cent of all arable land was socialized into collective and state farms. This land was returned to those former owners who wished to cultivate it in 1990. Cereal grains account for more than half of the total planting. The approximate yearly outputs (in tonnes) of the leading agricultural products in 2005 were corn (9 million), wheat (5.08 million), sugar beet (3 million), barley (1 million), potatoes (607,220), oilseeds (657,048), and rye (112,000). Livestock included about 708,000 cattle, 3.85 million pigs, 1.41 million sheep, and 41.3 million poultry. In the mid-1990s the annual output of major livestock products amounted to about 1.9 billion litres of milk (412 million gallons), 349,000 tonnes of meat, 2.1 billion eggs, and 4,981 tonnes of wool. The vineyards of the Tokaj region are internationally famous; in 2005 total grape output was 815,000 tonnes. Agriculture contributed 16 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1985, but this had declined to about 3.3 per cent by 2003.

In 2005 21.5 per cent of land was forested. Expansion of cultivated areas, a high rate of exploitation, and inadequate reforestation diminished resources through the period following World War II. In the 1960s the government restricted cutting and began an extensive reforestation programme. Roundwood removal in 2005 was about 5.94 million cu m (210 million cu ft).

Important freshwater fisheries are on Lake Balaton and the Danube and Tisza rivers. The catch in 2004 was 19,986 tonnes and consisted chiefly of perch, carp, pike, sheatfish, and shad.