Insider Travel Tips

From ancient tribes to modern triumphs, Hungary's history is profound.

Despite the scars and painful memories from a complex history, Hungary exists in the present with strong education and health systems, a busy tourism industry, and its music and arts scene is thriving.

The region of modern day Hungary has been home to a number of tribes and groups, such as the Celts, Romans, and Magyars, who arrived in the 9th century. Split in different ways over its time, Hungary, in the Act of Compromise of 1867 saw the creation of the Duel Monarchy of Austria and Hungary. Budapest experienced a cultural birth in this period, when much of the city was built.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Prince of Hungary, was assassinated by Serbian Gavrilo Princip in 1914, and Hungary declared war on Serbia and sparked a global conflict. The post-war period was harsh and Hungary joined Germany in the war, in 1941. Hungarian soldiers were used as pawns while 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschitz and other labour camps.

Following the war, Hungary became a republic and lost some of its territories. The Soviets taking over caused the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but it was forcefully rejected. Twenty-thousand Hungarians were killed and a quarter-million were exiled. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, Hungary held its first free elections in 1990. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004.

Hungarians are proud of their unique, complex, and sophisticated language. It’s related to Mansi and Khanty of Siberia and is also classified as a Finno-Ugric language which includes Finnish and Estonian. It’s not at all related to any of its neighbours, and is considered one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn.