Conflict and culture

Each year, at least one city is chosen as the European Capital of Culture. The title is awarded by the Council of the European Union after best-candidate recommendations are made by the European Commission. The status helps the chosen city to showcase its cultural life and cultural development, thereby promoting European integration.

Three cities have been chosen as European Capitals of Culture for 2010: Istanbul in Turkey, Essen in Germany and the rather-unknown Pecs in south-western Hungary.

In Germany, there is currently great excitement about Essen's up-coming Culture Capital status. What few Germans realize, however, is that Pecs too, is influenced by German culture.

Romans, Turks and Germans: Pecs, a city of settlers

Around 300 years ago, Germans settlers named the Hungarian city "Five Churches" ("Fuenfkirchen"), referring to its Latin name "Quinque Basilicae" ("Five Cathedrals").

"The Roman settlement had a very small inner city," local historian Johann Habel said. "It also apparently had a small city wall, but only a section of it has been found. We don't know what other parts can be found underground."

Like so many of Pecs inhabitants, Habel is a descendent of immigrants. His forefathers were so-called "Danube Swabians" - Germans who settled in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially the Danube River valley, between the 17th and 19th centuries.

The largest wave of German-speaking immigrants arrived as the Ottoman Turks were gradually being forced back after their defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

Some 150 years of Turkish control had left their mark on Pecs, and the new settlers found themselves surrounded by unfamiliar architecture and traditions.

"Christian churches were turned into mosques or torn down," Habel said. "Then the Turks built new mosques, baths, a Koran school and a hospital. In other words, they organized everything according to their taste and tradition."

Multicultural heritage

Rich traces of Pecs' Turkish and German heritage can be found side-by-side in today's Pecs. The city's main mosque is just one example. Built in the city's medieval square from the stones of a Roman church, it has now been turned into a parish church. Its main wall, however, still faces the direction of Mecca and its dome is still decorated by the Islamic crescent symbol.

"The city has a 2,000-year history," said Julia Fabanyi, director of the state museum. "And the city has been taking care of these 2,000 years of monuments and cultural heritage."

The monuments remain long after the people who built them have disappeared. The city also boasts an impressive synagogue, but Pecs' Jewish population was decimated by the Holocaust. Once World War II was over, inhabitants with a German background were branded as collaborators and banished from the city.

Silke Bartlick (ew)

Editor: Kate Laycock