Place:Međimurje, Croatia

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Međimurje County is a triangle-shaped county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje. Despite being the smallest Croatian county by size, it is the most densely populated one (not including the City of Zagreb). The county seat is Čakovec, which is also the largest city of the county.

The county borders Slovenia in the north-west and Hungary in the east, with about 30 kilometers of Slovenian territory separating it from Austria. The south-eastern corner of the county is near the town of Legrad and the confluence of the Mura into the Drava. The closest bigger cities include Varaždin, Koprivnica and Bjelovar in Croatia, Lendava, Murska Sobota and Maribor in Slovenia, as well as Nagykanizsa in Hungary and Graz in Austria. The Croatian capital of Zagreb is about 90 kilometers south-west of Čakovec.

There are slopes of the Alpine foothills in the north-western part of the county, the Upper Međimurje, making it suitable for vineyards. The south-eastern part of the county, the Lower Međimurje, touches the flat Pannonian Plain. The flat parts of the region are also largely used for agriculture, which mostly includes fields of cereals, maize and potato, as well as orchards, which are mostly planted with apple trees. There are two major hydroelectric power plants along the southern border of the county, on the Drava River.

History

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

Early history

The first organized human habitations here can be traced back to the Stone Age. There is a Neolithic site called Ferenčica near Prelog. There are archaeological sites that date from the Bronze Age, and 3rd century sites called Ciglišće and Varaščine .

During the Iron Age, the Indo-European tribes identified in the area were Celts, Serets and Pannons, and the region became part of the Roman empire. In the 1st century, the Romans knew the area as Insula intra Dravam et Muram ("island between the Drava and Mura rivers") according to the geographer Strabo. The region was part of the Roman province of Pannonia and later part of the Pannonia Superior.

Čakovec was originally called Aquama ("the wet city"), because the area was marshland. During the Migration Period, many different tribes, such as Huns, Visigoths, and Ostrogoths, passed through the region. The region was part of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths, the state of the Lombards, the Avar Khaganate, and the Frankish Kingdom. The Slavs, which settled this region in the 6th century, gained independence after destruction of the Avar Khaganate. In the 9th century, it was included in the Slavic state of Lower Pannonia. According to some sources, the area was also part of the Great Moravia.

Medieval history

The Hungarians occupied the region in 896 and expanded to the river Sava, but as the Principality of Hungary transformed to the Kingdom of Hungary, the borders with the Kingdom of Croatia were set along the river Drava. In 1102 Croatia entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary. During 13th century tradesmen and merchants (mostly ethnic Germans) started to arrive and began to develop the urban localities that are present today. Prelog (Perlak) was founded in 1264, shortly after the invasion of the Mongols in 1242, and the other settlements followed. Later it was part of Zala County. In the beginning of the 14th century, the area was ruled by powerful semi-independent oligarch Henrik Kőszegi.

Čakovec (Csáktornya) got its name from Count Dimitry Csáky, who at the beginning of the 13th century erected the timber fortification that eventually was "Csáky's tower", mentioned for the first time in 1328. King Charles I named Čakovec as the capitol in 1333. In 1350, King Louis I. gave the land to viceroy (Ban) Stjepan I Lacković, a member of the ruling Lacković family of Transylvania. It remained Lacković property until 1397, when King Sigismund executed Stjepan II Lacković, and took back the area to the Crown.

In 1405, the Celje family received Međimurje (Muraköz) as a gift from the Crown, and the land was mortgaged. The monastery in Goričan (Goritsán) managed the administration of the seat of the main territorial dominion as an attorney of the Celje family. King Matthias Corvinus bought the mortgage and donated the land to John I Ernuszt and his son, who were Jewish merchants from Sweden, living in Buda. The monastery in Goričan, which had managed the administration of the seat of the main territorial dominion, was dissolved. The seat of the administration of the main territorial dominion Goričan came under the administration of the Bishop of Ljubljana. It remained in the hands of the Ernušts until 1526, when the family died out without heir.

Since 1526, the region became part of the Habsburg monarchy, as did Kingdom of Hungary along with Croatia. It followed a succession and inheritance dispute between the Keglević family and the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand I. Since 1530 until 1790 Goričan was by interdictum under the administration of the Bishop of Zagreb as an attorney of both the Emperor and the Keglević family to prevent any violent confrontations between them both, but Čakovec became the seat of the administration of the main territorial dominion in 1546, because even the Bishop Simon Erdődy (1518–1543, Bishop of Zagreb) could not prevent a violent confrontation between the Emperor and Petar Keglević in 1542/43. In 1546 the Diet in Pressburg (Pozsony, today's Bratislava) approved the transfer of Čakovec and Međimurje to Nikola Šubić Zrinski.

Rapid development began in 1547 under the ruling Zrinski family. In 1579 the craftsmen and merchants outside the walls of Čakovec Castle (csáktornyai kastély) were granted the right to trade; this was the beginning of the formal and legal city structure. The area was of importance as a trade center with Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia and Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary positioned nearby on the main roads, facilitating the exchange of goods, crafts and ideas. The region was also a military buffer zone against the expanding Ottoman Empire.

Nikola Šubić Zrinski ruled as Nicholas IV (1508–1566). He was a hero of the Battle of Szigetvár of the Habsburg-Ottoman wars. Then followed his son, Juraj IV Zrinski (George IV), until 1603, and his grandson Nikola VI. Zrinski (Nicholas VI) until 1624. Next was another grandson, a brother of Nicholas VI, Juraj V Zrinski (George V). He was poisoned in 1626 by the general Albrecht Wallenstein in Pressburg and was buried in Pauline Monastery of Sveta Jelena (St. Helen in English) near Čakovec, next to the graves of his ancestors. He was followed by his son Nikola VII Zrinski (Nicholas VII), (1620–1664), a famous Croatian Ban. At the coronation of Ferdinand IV, he carried the sword of state and was made Captain General of Croatia. He was killed while hunting in the forest near Kuršanec (Kursanecz), apparently by a wounded wild boar, but there were rumors that he had been murdered by the order of the Habsburg court. His brother, Petar Zrinski (Peter IV), was noted for his role in the attempted Croatian-Hungarian rebellion of 1664-1670 which ultimately led to his execution for treason. His wife, Katarina Zrinska, died imprisoned for the same offence on 16 November 1673 in Graz. On 19 August 1691 the son of Nicholas VII, Adam Zrinski, fell at Battle of Slankamen while fighting against the Ottoman Empire. Parts of Međimurje remained in the hands of the Zrinski family until the end of the 17th century. The last male member of the family, Ivan Antun Zrinski (John IV), died in prison in 1703.

In 1715, during the period of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Count Michael Althan became the owner of Međimurje; he received the land for his loyal services. In 1720, the region was detached from Croatia and was included into the main part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. In 1738, Čakovec Castle was hit by an earthquake, which caused tremendous damage. The owners of the city made some repairs, but in 1741, fire caused additional damage. The castle started to decay.

The Church of St. Jerome was rebuilt in 1749 in Štrigova (Stridóvár) by the famous artist Ivan Ranger following the demolition of the original 15th century-built chapel by an earthquake in 1738.

Ignacije Szentmartony, a Jesuit from Kotoriba (Kottori), was a royal mathematician and astronomer in Lisbon and in 1754 an explorer of Brazil on behalf of the Portuguese government.

In 1791 Count György Festetics bought Međimurje, including Čakovec Castle and Feštetić Castle (Festetics kastély) in the neighboring village of Pribislavec (Zalaújvár), which remained in the property of Feštetić family until 1923.

On 19 April 1848 Josip Jelačić proclaimed a union of Croatian provinces, and their separation from the Kingdom of Hungary. By 1868, the former status quo was restored. Within the years 1860 to 1889 the railroad was introduced, while in 1893 electric power started illuminating most of the city streets. According to the 1910 census, the population of Međimurje numbered 90,387 people, including 82,829 Croats and 6,766 Hungarians.

The Magyarization between the 1870s-1910s introduced the concept of Međimurian language (muraközi nyelv). According to this view, the spoken language in Međimurje was not Croatian or Kajkavian, but Međimurian Slavic, which is a separate Slavic language-family. József Margitai was the main propagandist of the Međimurian language and he published few Međimurian books. The propagandists exploited idea that the Croatians are dissatisfied with the new Serbo-Croatian language.

Margitai propagated in Međimurian the usefulness of the assimilation in the Međimurje and the superiority of the Hungarian nation. The fake Međimurian literary language in fact was only little different from the Kajkavian literary language.^[1]

Modern history (after World War I)

In 1918, after the collapse of the monarchic union of Austria-Hungary, and after the disarmament of the local police, the Međimurje region fell into civil disorder. The National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in Zagreb sent hastily assembled troops, which crossed the river Drava and reached Čakovec where they were defeated. In the second attempt to capture the region in late 1918, troops commanded by Slavko Kvaternik forced the Hungarian troops to abandon the region. On 9 January 1919, Međimurje joined to the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia).

In the Southern region, in the Slovene March (today the Prekmurje and Raba March near Szentgotthárd) there emerged independence-autonomy movements. József Klekl expressed the program of the autonomous (or independent) Slovene March. Oszkár Jászi, who is supported the Slovene and Croatian minority, completed the program in a proposal: the Slovene March and the Međimurje should be merged. The program did not materialize.

Until 1922 the region was part of Varaždin County. From 1922 to 1929 the region was part of the Maribor Oblast, from 1929 to 1939 part of the Sava Banovina and from 1939 to 1941 part of the Banovina of Croatia.

Upon signing the Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia became a member of the Axis powers. In spite of this, after the coup Yugoslavia was invaded by Axis forces on 6 April 1941 and was subsequently occupied and partitioned. Between 1941 and 1945, Međimurje was occupied and annexed by Hungary. At this time some re-settlement of ethnic Croats who were settled in the region after 1918 occurred. Bulgarian troops within the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front captured the region in the spring of 1945, and the region became part of the socialist Croatia within restored Yugoslavia.

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