Summary

Teljes szövegű keresés

Summary
Ozora lies in the neighbourhood of Simontornya and Pincehely in the north-west part of Tolna county on the right bank of river Sió, surrounded by seven hills. The rich archaeological relics suggest that both its good land and crossing point encouraged pre-historic peoples like the Celts, the Romans and the migrating groups to settle. After the settlement of the Hungarians, it belonged to the abodes of the ruling tribe. We may come across its earliest mention in one of Saint Stephen’s charters setting out the boundaries of the Pécs bishopric in 1009.
The thriving of the settlement, the obtainment of a right to organise fairs, and the unusually generous privileges gained by the borough are all linked with the name of Philippo Scolari from Florence, who was a dominating personality of King Sigismund’s age. The Italian style castle of a nobleman known by the name of Pipo from Ozora – although ruined several times in the storms of history and re-shaped to the owners’ purposes – is still a public house in the settlement which is known in the whole country. After it has been fully explored, it is being totally reconstructed. It will become a museum after its completion.
On Pipo’s request, and with a permission obtained from Pope Martin V, some observant Franciscan monks were settled in the monastery built in 1423. A hundred years later, there were already 165 monks living in the so called Ozora vigilance, a monastic organisation consisting of seven monasteries (Ozora, Paks, György, Héderhely, Kőrőshegy, Csákány, Séllye). The monastery had a dominant role in the religious life, and education of the region.
After Pipo from Ozora, until the family died out, it became owned by the powerful Héderváry family, and later by Török Bálint. It was occupied by the Turks in 1543. Its population dropped significantly, and became depopulated for a short time. It was liberated in September 1686. At that time, there were Southern Slav settlers and Hungarians living in it. Most of the Slavs escaped during the Rákóczi Freedom Fight. The Esterházy family, the new owners of the area populated Ozora with Hungarians. While in 1696, there were hardly 100 people living here, by the census held at the end of the XVIII century, this number amounted to 2338. The growth of the population was going on until the 1920-ies, when Ozora had 4600 inhabitants. This was followed first by a mild, and later after 1960, by a significant drop – due to movements and a reduction in the number of births. Today, the number of the citizens living in Ozora is around 1910.
There were major investments going on in the borough, which was developed to become the centre of the lower estates of the Esterházy entail. A hotel, an inn, and flats for the officers, employees and artisans of the estate, as well as mills were built. Between 1739 and 1744, the ducal palace of Kulapuszta was made, and a game reserve was developed together with a stud-farm and a manége. Later, in the second half of the XVIII century, the castle was transformed to a grain-store, with only a few rooms on the ground-floor still used as offices, and its cellar converted to a prison.
The numerous craftsmen in Ozora served to fulfil the needs of the estate and the local population, as well as the neighbouring settlements via its fairs. The head of the Esterházy entail provided privileges to the guilds of the szűr-makers, potters, shoemakers, fullers, bootmakers and weavers of the estate at the end of the 1740-ies, and to the bootmakers, weavers, tailors and szűr-makers of the borough at the end of the 1760-ies. Most of the craftsmen, in addition to their craft, also had to sell their products at the fairs, had to farm, produce vegetables and wine, and deal with animal husbandry.
The privileges of serfs gained at the time when they settled here, were gradually withdrawn. The relationship between the estate, which significantly increased its demands, and the population of the village deteriorated. In 1766, the serfs rose in a revolt. The court of the comitat convicted 49 participants to imprisonment in the castle, and earthwork. Seven of them were convicted to death. The punishments that served as deterrents were mitigated by queen Maria Theresa.
The history of Ozora in the XVIII-XX centuries was accompanied by the lack of land. In the first half of the XIX century, the serfs with land got into legal disputes with their landlords. Due to the lack of land, in 1844, the serfs and cotters of Ozora concluded very unfavourable agreements with the estate for the cultivation of about three thousand holds of land. In 1848, they tried to terminate the burdens of this agreement, while they fulfilled their obligation to their homeland without fail.
October 7, 1848 marked one of the most glorious days of the revolution and freedom fight, when the Croatian army forming the right wing of Jellasics starting his attack instigated by the Austrians had to surrender to the soldiers of Peczel Mór, and the territorial army and guard of Tolna county headed by Csapó Vilmos.
After the abolition of serfdom, several hundreds of the people living in Ozora remained without land. The surrounding domains and domanial tenants could only give work to a part of them as serfs and occasional hands. Several people moved away from the settlement and left the country. Those who remained at home, tried to squeeze out some achievements in the harvesters’ strikes at the turn of the century. The agrarian proletarians in Ozora were permanent participants in agricultural movements during the economic crisis of 1929–33.
As a result of the land reform by Nagyatádi, and the partition of land in 1945, the number of small peasants grew significantly. However, no notable middle or rich peasantry was ever formed throughout the whole history of Ozora.
Next to the major agricultural and the significant industrial activities, the trade pursued by the settlement was also more intensive than the county average. In parallel with local shops, the weekly fairs also played a significant role, and the national fairs, attracting lots of people from the neighbouring settlements, were also famous. The right of fairs, gained by the borough during the time of Pipo from Ozora, was given to the Esterházy family by Maria Theresa, which Ozora could purchase back in 1908. As the railways avoided Ozora, a paved road connecting the settlement with the rails was the solution to lift the enclosure. This was achieved with the public road of Pincehely, and Fürged in 1940. The settlement was supplied with electricity.
After 1945, the co-operative movement put an end to the handicraft industries and small trade. Small peasant farms were replaced by large agricultural companies. The combined agricultural co-operative of the settlement under the name of Egyetértés Mgtsz (Unity Co-operative) played
a dominant role in the life of Ozora for three decades. The whole of the population, however, could not find jobs in the local co-operatives. During the following four decades, more than half of the population was enticed away by mines and industrial plants in larger towns. This process seems to halt now. In 1999, the demographic balance of the settlement was positive for the first time after a very long period.
The renovation of the castle is coming to its end. Its ground-floor will soon host an exhibition showing the life-work of the great Hungarian poet, Illyés Gyula. Ozora is the place where wood-carvers have come together every year since 1993. On these occasions, dozens of pieces of their work can be seen in the streets and squares creating a beautiful image to the village, which was under the average not a long time ago. Over the last few years, Ozora, with its more and more aesthetic face and its rich history is welcoming its guests with a hospitable heart and open gates.

 

 

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