Ágnes Ózer

Hungarians in the Serbian Athens

Novi Sad - Újvidék - Neusatz

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The demographics of Petrovaradin were constantly changing. Serbs in Austrian military service accounted for the majority; they came in several major waves of migration after 1690 (in 1717 and in 1738- 39 especially). Hungarians soon followed and they were joined by Jews, Greeks, Sokci and Armenians, all attracted by the lively and busy town. However, the Serbs always remained the predominant ethnic element. Their settlement rights were guaranteed by Imperial decree, as they were all over the Empire; in the Hungarian counties they were exempt from taxes and enjoyed considerable autonomy as a reward for their mil-itary service. From 1699, the year of the Treaty of Karlowitz, Petrovaradin was part of the Frontier Zone along the Danube and had its own council and captain. It was named the seat of County Bodrog, an administrative entity that had been re-created, but never completely revived, although county meetings were held there in 1718 and 1719. In the 18th century, the town, rising on the swamps of the Danube and the backwater dams, became one of the fastest growing in the entire Kingdom of Hungary within the Habsburg Empire.
From 1746, the wealthy merchants and artisans of Petrovaradin had been seek-ing the status of royal free city for their town. In the view of Menyhért Érdujhelyi, the first historian of Novi Sad, this showed that the citizens made common cause in public affairs, in spite of their religious and ethnic differences, and were com-mitted to promoting peace and justice "with an exemplary show of good will". This is proven by a contract between the Serbian and non-Serbian residents on 24th September 1747, which declares that "the majority of the population is made up of Serbs who effectively played their part in the liberation of the city; they wish and demand to enjoy the same rights, liberties and exemptions as Catholics." Those rights had much to do with the enjoyment of religious freedom; the Catholic resi-dents pledged to give the Serbs "full parity" in municipal administration.
The citizens of Petrovaradin thus settled their domestic affairs as early as the 18th century, assuring the conditions for a peaceful urban way of life. In the terms of another contract, the residents of the city borrowed 12,000 florins from a nobleman, György Zaigar (Zeiger), a sum needed to cover the 80,000 Rhenish florins needed for their royal free city status. The contract was signed on behalf of the city by the notary, the judge, twelve councillors, the representatives of the guilds and a number of prominent citizens. In a special codicil, the council mem-ber and municipal judge Dávid Rackovics attested with his signature and personal seal: "I have clearly put forth and explained the aforegoing promissory note, word by word and in all its paragraphs, to the entire community and town of Petrovaradin, not only in Hungarian and German, but in Serbian as well, so that everyone may understand it." It should come as no surprise that, when the request was granted on 1st February, 1748, the Imperial and Royal charter stipu-lated measures guaranteeing full religious tolerance in the life of the city along-side those pertaining to political and economic life. "The city authorities, judges, council members, office holders and civil servants have to be freely elected, regard-less of religion, yet including only Catholics, Greek Catholics (united with Rome) and Greek Orthodox." Paragraphs 8 and 13 spell out not only religious equality but also the need to ensure "that Serbs of the Greek Orthodox rite keep their ancient Imperial-Royal privileges, which shall never be curtailed."

The twenty paragraphs of this document, still formulated in medieval legal terms, had a profound influence on the city's development. The regulations con-cerning city revenues and the privileges of the citizens were particularly important. The royal decree also changed the name; it became known in Latin as Neoplanta, in Hungarian as Újvidék, and in German as Neusatz. Although the Serbian form of the name is not mentioned in this document, the multilingual document of inauguration dated 5th March 1748 lists "Novi Sad" in Cyrillic script under the Statutes of the city. The name "Novi Sad" can be considered official from this moment on.
Újvidék/Neusatz/Novi Sad was the largest city in Hungary to have a Serbian majority and was dubbed the "Serbian Athens". The economic power of the Serbs of Novi Sad made it possible for them to lead the way in the development of mod-ern Serbian culture and education. They played an important role in conveying the modern trends in Central European intellectual life towards Serb-inhabited parts to the south, which were still under Turkish rule. Nevertheless, and for most of its history, the new city was able to respect and to reconcile the interests of its different ethnic and religious groups.

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Following the war, Újvidék/Novi Sad became the economic, political, cultural and educational capital of the Autonomous Province of Voivodina. Since all the Hungarian intelligentsia of the Voivodina was concentrated there, it became the most important Hungarian centre in all of Yugoslavia. By Christmas 1944, the first issue of the Hungarian-language Szabad Vajdaság (Free Voivodina)- later to become Magyar Szó (Hungarian Word)- had appeared. Radio Novi Sad has broadcast regularly in Hungarian since 1949. Forum, a Hungarian publishing house, was founded in 1957, followed in 1959 by the Hungarian Department at the university and in 1969 by the Institute for Hungarian Studies. Hungarian television programmes started in 1968. The literary magazine Híd (Bridge) was restarted as early as 1945. This magazine, as well as Új Symposion (New Symposium), launched in 1964, promoted openess; throughout the sixties and seventies, they were treasured in Hungary, being freer and more modern than what the Kádár regime allowed in Hungary proper. They published the works of the best Hungarian authors, such as Tibor Déry, Miklós Mészöly, Iván Mándy and Gyula Hernádi, poets Sándor Weöres and Dezső Tandori, philosophers Ágnes Heller and Ferenc Fehér. György Konrád took part in the discussions of the cul-tural club Ifjúsági Tribün (The Tribune of Youth), and the educational principles first set forth by László Németh were incorporated in the Hungarian curriculum of the Voivodina schools.
A Hungarian theatre company was founded in 1973. Modern in orientation, it gave professional opportunities and expressive freedom to the most sought-after directors from both Belgrade and Budapest.
Throughout these years, Újvidék/Novi Sad preserved its open spirit; it was receptive to much that was modern from the outside world and, through the channels of "spiritual osmosis", communicated those trends to a Hungary that was still isolated behind the Iron Curtain. This it was able to do through the mul-tifaceted character it had developed over a multi-ethnic past.

 

Translated by

Ágnes Ózer
is Chief Consultant to the Novi Sad Museum of Local History.
She has published widely on Novi Sad and on Hungarian- Serb cultural links.