(Picture)
Torschau; church, school and the main cross street, an aerial photograph
Settlement in Hungary
Excerpt from the book by Rev. Ludwig Karman, 1897
Under the Prince Geza and King Stefan I, some tradesmen already migrated to Hungary, spreading Christianity and civilization here, and in the ? century the Kumanen? and Saxons settled the Danube and Theiß region and the Saxons settled in the Seven Mountains (Transylvania). In the 12th century, under King Bela IV, the land of the Tartars-Ho? was desolate, so the king called German and Italian settlers to the land. The Germans pursued metal ore mining and the Italians pursued the wine growing, especially in the Hegyalja where the precious vines were put in, and the delicious wine was produced.
In the 15th century, pressured by the Turks, the first Serbs came to Hungary with the Brankovits, who settled on the Csepel Island a year after that, who once again pressured by the Turks, the second migration and soon after that the third migration of Serbs took place, which through the King M- that Banat was settled and they were favored with many privileges, especially – reasons, because the soldiers were competent, and they could use the king in the Turkish war.
After the disastrous battle at Mohatsch (1526) the ? overflowed the land, and everywhere where they moved in they plundered, robbed, and murdered – and they transformed the region of the Batsch-Bodrog Komitat into a depopulated wasteland.
In each period the old Torschau was also destroyed. The oldest document of Torschau possessed is the “Zehent Conseription” from the year 1522, after which Torschau had taxable homes. Under the Turkish rule in the year 15—Torschau had 10 homes.
Since this time one finds no trace in the documents of the old Torschau, and there was no doubt that the community was destroyed by the Turks, in the area towards Kuzura one found in a line of about 15 fathoms apart buried wells, from which one can conclude that a house and yard was there. Later the Turks established a village in our Hotter, which was proved by the rubble of the Turkish temple, which lay on a hill in the old Hutweide (meadow) in the Schowner direction, and it was lost and destroyed during the Turkish war. Under the Turkish rule the migrations stopped because nobody wanted to risk establishing a homeland in the land, where the enemy hordes stole and devastated everything. Only in Ofen (Budapest) in 1686 were they captured by the Austro-Hungarian army and consequently the Turks were driven away from a part of Hungary, the government could direct their attention to occupy the desolate region with new inhabitants.
In that period (1694) under the leadership of the Ipeker patriarch Csrnojevits 36,000 Serbian, Albanian, and Klemmentiner? Families migrated to Hungary where they settled in the Batschka and Slavonia.
Under the government of Maria-Theresia the following were settled: Petrovatz, Kerestur, Kuzura, Hodsag, Filipova, Gajdobra, Pr. Sentivan, Apatin, Veprovatz, Karavukova, Groß-Szekely, Harta, and Soroksar.
What Maria-Theresia began, Josef II continued after her death through large settlements from important state interests.
His purpose was to settle the stretch Kameral-Prädien? in the Batschka and the Banat with Protestant German colonists. On the one hand to make the barren Prädien fruitful through German diligence and education, and to open for the revenue of the states through new sources, and on the other hand to set up the Religious Tolerance Act.