Germany–Hungary relations
Encyclopedia
Germany–Hungary relations are the relations between Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, two member states of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and NATO. Both countries have a long shared history. Germany has an embassy in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

. Hungary has an embassy in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, 2 general consulates (in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

 and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

) and 9 honorary consulates (in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...

, Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...

, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

, Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...

, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

 and Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

). The Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Hungary on Friendly Cooperation and Partnership in Europe concluded in 1992 is one of the principal cornerstones of today’s bilateral relations.

Hungary set down an important marker for future bilateral relations on 10 September 1989 when it opened up its border with Austria to refugees from the former German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...

, thus making a special contribution towards German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

 and the political transformation
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...

 in Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

 and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

. The 2009 celebrations commemorating those events are symbolic of German-Hungarian relations.

Shared history

Arnulf I of Bavaria maintained an alliance with the Hungarians until his death in 899. During their campaigns following their conquest of the Carpathian Basin the Hungarians stopped neither at the river Morava nor at the western border of Pannonia, but penetrated deeply into the territory of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 as far as the river Enns
Enns River
The Enns is a southern tributary of the Danube River, joining northward at Enns, Austria. The Enns River spans , in a flat-J-shape. It flows from its source near the towns of Gasthofalm and Flachau, generally eastward through Radstadt, Schladming, and Liezen, then turns north near Hieflau, to flow...

. During the battle of Pressburg on July 4, 907, a Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

n army was defeated by the Hungarians. The Battle of Lechfeld
Battle of Lechfeld
The Battle of Lechfeld , often seen as the defining event for holding off the incursions of the Hungarians into Western Europe, was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Hungarian leaders, the harka Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél and Súr...

 (10 August 955) was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Hungarian leaders. The defeat effectively ended Magyar raids on the West.

Fearing a war of extermination, Géza of Hungary
Géza of Hungary
Géza , Grand Prince of the Hungarians .Géza was the son of Taksony of Hungary, Grand Prince of the Hungarians and his Pecheneg or Bulgar wife. Géza's marriage with Sarolt, the daughter of Gyula of Transylvania, was arranged by his father.After his father's death , Géza followed him as Grand Prince...

 (972-97) assured Otto II that the Hungarians had ceased their raids and asked him to send missionaries. Otto complied, and in 975 Géza and a few of his kinsmen were baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. Géza used German knights and his position as chief of the Hungarians' largest clan to restore strong central authority over the other clans. Hungary's ties with the West were strengthened in 996 when Géza's son, Stephen I of Hungary married Princess Giselle of Bavaria
Giselle of Bavaria
Blessed Gisela of Hungary was the first queen of Hungary.- Biography :Gisela was a daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria and Gisela of Burgundy....

, sister of Emperor Henry II. On the eve of World War I a Munich archaeologist discovered her grave in the church of the Niedernburg convent — which has since become a place of pilgrimage for the Hungarian faithful.

Transylvania was colonized with — besides Székely people — German Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...

 in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In 1241-42 the Mongols reduced Hungary's towns and villages to ashes and slaughtered half the population. Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...

 repopulated the country with a wave of immigrants, transforming royal castles into towns and populating them with Germans, Italians, and Jews. Hungarian kings were keen to settle Germans in the country's uninhabited territories.

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...

 was from 1387 to 1437 also a King of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...

. Although Hungary's economy continued to flourish, Sigismund's expenses outstripped his income. Social turmoil erupted late in Sigismund's reign as a result of the heavier taxes. Hungary's first peasant revolt was quickly checked, but it prompted Transylvania's Hungarian and German nobles to form the Union of Three Nations
Unio Trium Nationum
Unio Trium Nationum Unio Trium Nationum Unio Trium Nationum (Latin for "Union of the Three Nations" was a pact of mutual aid formed in 1438 by three Estates of Transylvania: the (largely Hungarian) nobility, the Saxon (i.e. German) burghers, and the free Szeklers...

, which was an effort to defend their privileges against any power except that of the king.

In the 18th century, under Charles IV
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...

 and Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...

, Hungary experienced economic decline. Centuries of Ottoman occupation, rebellion, and war had reduced Hungary's population drastically, and large parts of the country's southern half were almost deserted. A labor shortage developed and the Habsburgs called among others German peasants to Hungary.

During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 both countries were Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...

, while during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the two were allies culminating in the German occupation of Hungary
Operation Panzerfaust
Operation Panzerfaust, known as Unternehmen Eisenfaust in Germany, was a military operation to keep the Kingdom of Hungary at Germany's side in the war, conducted in October 1944 by the German military...

.

Hungary's 1989 decision to open its borders with Austria to help East German refugees flee to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 was a key factor in preparing for the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

.

Economic relations

Germany is Hungary's most important foreign trade partner, both as a customer and as a supplier. Germany is one of the countries with which Hungary has a trade balance surplus.

German aid to Hungary between 1990 and 1995 totaled DM 5 billion, loans and aid reflected privileged treatment of Hungary in the region.

Germany is also the leading foreign investor in Hungary: at the end of 2005, German companies accounted for some 28 per cent of all foreign direct investments in Hungary. In 2005 alone, Germany invested or reinvested some EUR 1.2 billion in Hungary. There are more than 7,000 companies in Hungary set up partially or wholly with German capital. One of the most important business links is the German-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Budapest representing the interests of more than 900 member companies from both countries. The overwhelming majority (75 per cent) of German investors have been very happy with their involvement in Hungary and would invest there again today, shown by an economic survey conducted by the Chamber.
Audi has built the largest engine manufacturing plant of Europe (third largest in the world) in Győr
Gyor
-Climate:-Main sights:The ancient core of the city is Káptalan Hill at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Rába and Rábca. Püspökvár, the residence of Győr’s bishops can be easily recognised by its incomplete tower. Győr’s oldest buildings are the 13th-century dwelling tower and the...

 becoming Hungary's largest exporter with total investments reaching over € 3,300 million until 2007. Audi's workforce assembles the Audi TT
Audi TT
The Audi TT is a two-door sports car manufactured by the German automaker and Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi since 1998.The Audi TT has been produced in two generations. Both generations have been available in two car body styles; as a 2+2 Coupé, or two-seater Roadster...

, the Audi TT Roadster and the A3 Cabriolet
Audi A3
The Audi A3 is a small family car produced by the German automaker Audi since 1996. Two generations of A3 exist, both based on the Volkswagen Group A platform, which they share with several other models such as the Audi TT, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Caddy and Volkswagen Touran as well as SEAT...

 in Hungary. The plant delivers engines to carmakers Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat and also to Lamborghini.

Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...

 invests € 800 million ($1.2 billion) and creates up to 2,500 jobs at a new assembly plant in Kecskemét
Kecskemét
Kecskemét is a city in the central part of Hungary. It is the 8th largest city of the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun.Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third-largest city, Szeged, 86 kilometres from both of them and almost equal distance from the two...

, Hungary with capacity for producing 100,000 Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

 compact cars a year.

Opel
Opel
Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

 produced 80,000 Astra and 4,000 Vectra cars from March 1992 until 1998 in Szentgotthárd
Szentgotthárd
Szentgotthárd is the westernmost town of Hungary. It is situated on the Rába River near the Austrian border, and is home to much of Hungary's small Slovene ethnic minority....

, Hungary. Today, the plant produces about half million engines and cylinder heads a year.

Automotive research

Leading automotive manufacturers, including Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....

, Bosch
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...

, Knorr-Bremse
Knorr-Bremse
Knorr-Bremse is a manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles that has operated in the field for over 100 years. The company also produces door systems for rail vehicles and torsional dampers. In 2009, the Group's workforce of over 14,000 achieved worldwide sales of EUR 2.761...

, and ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp AG is a German multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Duisburg Essen, Germany. The corporation consists of 670 companies worldwide. While ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest steel producers, the company also provides components and systems for the automotive...

 have established R&D centers in Hungary:
  • Audi – Győr: engine development
  • Bosch – Miskolc
    Miskolc
    Miskolc is a city in northeastern Hungary, mainly with heavy industrial background. With a population close to 170,000 Miskolc is the fourth largest city of Hungary It is also the county capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and the regional centre of Northern Hungary.- Geography :Miskolc is located...

    : electronic hand-tools designing
  • Bosch – Budapest: electronic developments
  • Continental Teves
    Continental AG
    Continental AG, internally often called Conti for short, is a worldwide leading German manufacturer of tires, brake systems, vehicle stability control systems, engine injection systems, tachographs and other parts for the automotive and transport industries. The company is based in Hanover, Germany...

     – Veszprém
    Veszprém
    Veszprém is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name.-Location:...

    : development of electronics instruments for cars
  • DHS Dräxlmaier – Érd
    Érd
    Érd is city and urban county in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary.-History:The area has been inhabited since ancient times. Archaeological findings indicate that prehistoric men lived here 50,000 years ago....

    : vehicle compartment designing
  • EDAG
    EDAG
    EDAG Engineering + Design AG is a German firm founded 1969 in Groß-Zimmern by Horst Eckard as eckard design. The headquarters are located in Fulda, Germany...

     – Győr: vehicle subunit development
  • Knorr-Bremse – Budapest: electronic brake-system development
  • Continental Temic – Budapest: car electronics development
  • ThyssenKrupp – Budapest: electronic steering development
  • WET – Pilisszentiván
    Pilisszentiván
    Pilisszentiván is a village in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. It has a population of 4,217 .-References:...

    : electronic subunit development

Cultural relations

Germany and Hungary are closely cooperating in culture and education. The goal is the promotion of the German language, academic and school exchanges and cultural events.

The German language plays an important role in the education and economic sectors of Hungary. The Goethe Institute
Goethe-Institut
The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural institution operational worldwide, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. The Goethe-Institut also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on German...

 (GI) in Budapest — that has celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2008 — offers a comprehensive range of courses and close cooperation with schools in Hungary. There are also numerous programs designed to promote the German language among Hungary's ethnic German minority. In Budapest, the Thomas Mann Grammar School founded in 1992 is an international school also attended by Hungarians. The German Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

 and the Hungarian university entrance examination may be completed at the Ungarndeutsches Bildungszentrum (Education Centre for Ethnic Germans in Hungary) in Baja
Baja
-Geography:* Baja California peninsula, a peninsula in North America* States of Mexico** Baja California** Baja California Sur* Baja Arizona* Baja, Hungary* Baja Verapaz, a department of Guatemala...

.

Hungarian literature is popular in Germany with the works of Péter Esterházy
Péter Esterházy
Péter Esterházy is one of the most widely known contemporary Hungarian writers. His books are considered to be significant contributions to postwar literature....

, Péter Nádas
Péter Nádas
Péter Nádas is a Hungarian writer, playwright, and essayist.- Biography :He was born in Budapest as the son of László Nádas and Klára Tauber. After the takeover of the Hungarian Nazis, the Arrow Cross Party on 15 October 1944, Klára Tauber escaped with her son to Bačka and Novi Sad, but returned...

, Sándor Márai
Sándor Márai
Sándor Márai was a Hungarian writer and journalist.-Biography:...

, Antal Szerb
Antal Szerb
Antal Szerb was a noted Hungarian scholar and writer. He is recognized as one of the major Hungarian literary personalities of the 20th century.-Life and work:...

 and Imre Kertész
Imre Kertész
Imre Kertész is a Hungarian Jewish author, Holocaust concentration camp survivor, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002 "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history"....

 achieving the greatest success.

The Collegium Hungaricum in Berlin was founded in 1924. After 1945 it ceased operations, and was reopened in 1973, from 2000 under the old name.

Academic level education

Every year, thousands of Hungarians travel to Germany on study and research exchanges. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Robert Bosch Foundation
Robert Bosch Stiftung
The Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH is one of the major German foundations associated with a private company. It holds 92% of the capital stock from Robert Bosch GmbH of 1.2 billion euros. Established in 1964, it represents the philanthropic and social endeavors of founder Robert Bosch .The purpose of...

 are awarding scholarships for these.

The Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest
Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest
The Andrássy University Budapest ; full name: Andrássy Gyula German Speaking University Budapest - is a private university in Budapest, the capital of Hungary...

 plays a key role in German foreign cultural and education policy in Hungary.

See also

  • Germans of Hungary
  • Hungarians in Germany
    Hungarians in Germany
    There are around 120,000 Hungarians in Germany. Hungarians have emigrated here since the Middle Ages, with an increase after World War I. Today, around 75% of this population live in the states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hessen.-Population:...

  • Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest
    Andrássy Gyula German Language University of Budapest
    The Andrássy University Budapest ; full name: Andrássy Gyula German Speaking University Budapest - is a private university in Budapest, the capital of Hungary...

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