Hegyeshalom

Hegyeshalom Straß-Sommerein
Large village
Coat of arms
Hegyeshalom Location of Hegyeshalom
Coordinates: 47.91291°N 17.15444°E / 47.91291; 17.15444
Country	Hungary
County	Győr-Moson-Sopron
District	Mosonmagyaróvár
Area
• Total	52.66 km2 (20.33 sq mi)
Population  (2004)
• Total	3,496
• Density	66.38/km2 (171.9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	9222
Area code	(+36) 96
Motorways	M1, M15
Distance from Budapest	171 km (106 mi) Northwest

Hegyeshalom (Hungarian: [ˈhɛɟɛʃhɒlom]; German: Straß-Sommerein) is a village of approximately 3600 inhabitants in Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary, on the border with Austria and less than 15 km from the border with Slovakia.

History

A charter given by Andrew II of Hungary in 1217 mentions the settlement as Hegelshalm. After the Ottoman wars, the town was settled by German Jewish settlers. They were exterminated during the latter part of WW2. The name of Hegyeshalom is from the two Hungarian words = hegyes + halom. The word "hegyes" means "mountainous" (or "piked") and the word "halom" means "pile" (or "hill").

Border crossing

The abandoned Hegyeshalom border checkpoint

Pre-EU passport entry stamp from Hegyeshalom.

Pre-Schengen passport entry stamp from Hegyeshalom.

Until 21 December 2007, at 00:00 CET, Hegyeshalom was an important border crossing and control point between Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. However, all border controls ceased at that time as Hungary as well as Slovakia joined the Schengen Area.

The Hungarian M1 motorway passes through Hegyeshalom. It connects with Austria's A4 motorway across the border at Nickelsdorf.

Hegyeshalom is also a railway border crossing point along the main railway line between Vienna and Budapest and the railway line to Bratislava. The station has a plinthed MÁV Class 411 steam locomotive.

Sightseeing

The romanesque church was built in the Árpád age. The 13th century church was renewed in gothic style in the 15th century. On the eastern side stands the gothic tower with eightfold basic walls, while the upper part of it is fourfold, built in the 18th century.

Famous people

• In 1921 Zénó Terplán professor of the University of Technology in Budapest was born here.

Gallery

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  László Szőke, Mayor of Hegyeshalom

External links

Media related to Hegyeshalom at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website in Hungarian
• Street map (in Hungarian)
• Hegyeshalom on the Vendégváró homepage
• Aerial photographs of Hegyeshalom
• Full Info on HU.Wikipedia(in Hungarian)
• Google Earth view: flat country of the Pannonian Plain a bit west of Hegyeshalom.