Place:Čakovec, Međimurje, Croatia

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Čakovec is a city in northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmost, smallest and most densely populated Croatian county.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

According to the geographer Strabo's reports in the 1st century, today's location of the city of Čakovec was the site of Aquama (wet town) in Roman times and at the time a marshland, a military post and a legionnaire camp.

The name Čakovec (or ) comes from the first name of the ispán Csák Hahót. With the beginning of the 13th century he erected the timber fortification which was later named Csák's tower. It was mentioned for the first time in 1328 and the place appeared in the official books in 1333. From 1350 to 1397, it was in the possession of the House of Laczkfy. The town was part of Zala county of the Kingdom of Hungary until 1918 occupation of Međimurje and addition to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The period of more significant economic and cultural growth of Csáktornya is considered to have started in 1547, when Nikola IV Zrinski of Szigetvár became the owner of the area. At that time the castle was lavishly decorated, surrounded by a park and sculptures of famous army leaders and monarchs. Duke Juraj IV Zrinski granted privileges to the inhabitants of the Čakovec fortress and its suburbs on 29 May 1579. This was the starting point for Csáktornya to become a free market town and the date is celebrated today as "City Day". The Čakovec Castle which was owned by the House of Zrinski between the 16th and the 18th century is known today as the "Zrinski Old Town" and is considered the main landmark of the city. It is located in the Zrinski Park only a few steps from the central square.

In 1738 the city was devastated by an earthquake, in 1741 by a large fire, and another earthquake hit it in 1880. At the end of the 18th century, the owners of the town became counts from the Festetics family, and the town was turned into a big estate where industry, crafts and trade developed. In 1848 the ban Josip Jelačić captured Csáktornya from the Hungarians and annexed it with Croatia. Officially it was still part of Zala county. The first railroad track was built here in 1860 and to help connect Budapest with the ports of Fiume and Trieste. The town was connected by railroad with Muraszerdahely and Alsólendva in 1889 and in 1893 electricity was introduced. Csáktornya was the seat of a district in Zala county of the Kingdom of Hungary until 1918 when it was captured by an armed force on behalf of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It again became part of Hungary between 1941-44 during World War II, until it was captured on the 6 April 1945 by the Soviet Red Army with Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin in command.

Recent years

In the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s several modern buildings were built and opened to the public. In 1999 a brand new fitness complex including four indoor swimming pools and a jacuzzi was opened as part of the city's center for sports and recreation. In 2003 a renovated sports hall, originally built in the 1970s and belonging to the construction industry high school, was also opened as a part of the center for sports and recreation and hosted several group matches of the 2003 World Women's Handball Championship. Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s several large shopping centers and car showrooms emerged in the city, mostly in its northwestern part. Čakovec was twice rewarded The Green Flower award for the tidiest continental city in Croatia, in 2008 and 2009. Čakovec is the first city of the former Yugoslavia to have installed completely electronic information spots, located at the Republic Square and the Franciscan Square in the Center and at the Square of Saint Anthony of Padua in the Jug district. Čakovec is known as the city of traffic circles, because, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, all of its traffic lights in the inner part of the city were removed and replaced with traffic circles or rotaries, virtually eliminating traffic jams. The only remaining traffic lights in the city are located on the southern bypass. Although Čakovec is a small city by global parameters, its large working force which comes from all over the county, its location and importance in the region caused many traffic jams on the crossroads. Čakovec is home of many famous Croatian punk bands, including Bakterije and Motorno Ulje.

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