Bonus trip · Gossip Walk
Great Flood
12 March 1879
In one night 95% of the city went under water. Of 5750 houses, 265 were left.
On 5 March 1879 the Tisza dyke broke at Petres, about 20 kilometres north. The water crept closer for days.
On 12 March at around 2 a.m. the railway embankment gave way; it had never been built as a dyke. The water burst into the city and about 95% of Szeged went under. Only the higher streets of the old Palánk stayed dry.
According to the local paper, 265 of the city's 5750 houses were left standing. About 60,000 people were left homeless. One summary says about 160 drowned straight away.
On 17 March Franz Joseph toured the city by boat. He is credited with: “Szeged will be more beautiful than it was.” Nobody has found the original source yet.
Between 1880 and 1883 the city was rebuilt under royal commissioner Lajos Tisza, to engineer Lajos Lechner's plan: ring roads, avenues, dykes, raised streets, a new bridge. The cathedral, too, was built from a vow made in memory of the flood.
Open in the app →Animated scene, old photos, stamps and the full map. Free, nothing to install.Facts and labels
- True12 March 1879, 2 a.m.: the water bursts into the city.
- True265 of 5750 houses left standing, about 60,000 homeless.
- Allegedly“Szeged will be more beautiful than it was”: no original source.
- TrueRebuilt 1880–1883: ring roads, avenues, dykes.
People say
According to a blog commenter, around ten in the evening on March 11, 1879, an alarming rumor spread that the railway embankment had burst, so the people of Rókus immediately started to flee. The embankment actually gave way only about four hours later, so the rumor gave many people time.
Where it was said: Árvízben született város, hozzászólások (Ritkán látható történelem blog)