Intercultural city

Hungarian and

Swabian folk customs

and sights in our

community

• In the 18th century the Serbian, later the catholic Germans have been colonysated to Szigetbecse from Bavarian and Styrian provinces.

• The village is inhabited by several nationalities, the largest numbers of them is the Swabian group.

• As a result, the Hungarian and Swabian folk traditions are also celebrate in our community.

German Ethnical Municipality

In 2002 was founded the German Ethnical Municipality, which aims are

• to set the German population,

• the integrity of architectural monuments,

• support for arts groups,

• preserving our heritage

• and assist the German education in the kindergarten and in the school.

German Nationality

Primary school

• In our township, in the nationality kindergarten and in the school is teaching many lessons in German language.

• Many of our students come from Swabian families, so there learn Hungarian and Swabian students together.

We order German poem contest in our school

German-related architectural

monuments in our township

St. Michael’s Church

• Germans settled in the village. They built a church to the Patron of the village, who has been Saint Michael.

• The inhabitants keep on his name day (29th of September) traditionally saint’s day.

Memorial tablet

• 1846-48 among a large part of the German population of 450 people displaced to Germany.

• At the anniversary of the evacuation of the town a pentangular frame had been placed to the wall of St. Michael's Church.

Swabian houses

Till the II. world war there lived almost only Germans in Szigetbecse. This is the memory of

the Swabian houses memories.

Village museum

This Swabian family house was

renovated. It becomes a village

museum. It shows, how the Swabian

settlers lived there.

Swabian folk costumes

The music friends chore sing Swabian songs.

Swabian folk traditions in Szigetbecse:

The Carnival tradition is German origin,

which is organized in every year in our

school and kindergarten. The kids dress up in

colorful costumes, the highlight of the day is: the night Carnival

ball.

Carnival

Easter egg running is the country’s unique tradition organized in Szigetbecse.

At the beginning of the event the bachelors goes from house to house and collected eggs, than they put them in one line in the

middle of the street.

The festival begins with the hymn, than the runners

dance to wind-band music. They trough eggs in the

high, sometimes among the lookers.

Easter egg running

Egg runner’s costume

They're clothes shows Hungarian colors. They

are wearing white trousers with white

shirts, hat decorated with red tape, and more

than 100 years old Swabian head kerchiefs.

The game

The bachelors dance on Swabian music.

They drink wine after each song.

After the „egg running” the runners and the visitors go together into the

Easter ball.

Egg tree

Children and adults come together in

Szigetbecse to decorate the Easter

eggs.

The decorated and stained eggs will be located in the trees branches in the yard of the cultural center

house.

Martinmas and Fairy-lamp paradeThe Martinmas in

Szigetbecse

– organized in November-

is a Swabian tradition too.

The event begins in the evening with the

pageant on the streets. Children

makes handmade paper especially for

this event.

After the pageant students shows the story about Saint Martin in the churchyard.

According to legend, a goose betrayed Martin, so on this day, can not missing the goose on the festive

table.

Village day

The square at the

Ballassi Lake is a

great scene of the

village day.

People can there

skate and play ice

hokey in winter.

On the village day children and adults, Hungarian and Swabian are enjoying themselves together.

THIS is our past and our future!