Post Tagged with: "Debrecen"

Martin Luther King Jr. bust in 1978 next to the Church.

The sad story of Martin Luther King’s bust in Debrecen, Hungary

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a US federal holiday marking the birthday of MLK. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, this year on January 20th.  King’s actual birthday is January 15th. In order to understand Hungary’s deep-rooted and institutionalized racism here is the story of MLK’s bust in my birth-town Debrecen. The American civil […]

by · January 21, 2020 · Culture
Statue of the Galley Slaves in Debrecen.

The story of the Debrecen galley slaves

I grew up in the Hungarian city of Debrecen, about 150 miles east of the capital Budapest, near the Romanian border. Every day going to school I walked past the Statue of the Galley Slaves erected in the garden behind the Great Reformed Church. To be frank, I didn’t know the story of the column which was commissioned over a […]

by · September 18, 2018 · Culture
Reformed Great Church float with the building behind.

National Holiday and the Debrecen Flower Parade

August 20th is a National Holiday commemorating Stephen I. who ruled Hungary from 1000 until his death in 1038. When I was growing up in Debrecen this holiday was called Constitution Day, now it is again St. Stephen’s Day. It is also the day of the “new bread”, the first bake from the virgin harvest and in Debrecen, this is […]

by · August 21, 2016 · Culture
Köszméte, pöszméte, piszke, egres – gooseberry

Köszméte, pöszméte, piszke, egres – gooseberry

We’ve just returned from a wonderful vacation in Hungary and, among other places, my wife and I visited Debrecen, my birthplace. Every year we see relatives there. I love this large, sleepy Eastern-Hungarian town – the “Calvinist Rome.” When I was a child the city’s open-air market was located on Rákóczi Street, always a colorful cavalcade of local sellers, called […]

by · July 25, 2016 · Culture
Storm over the Hortobágy National Park. Photo: Hungary Guide.

Proemcards from Hungary (Part 2)

Proemcards by Montreal author Endre Farkas – a combination of prose, poetry and reflections on a journey to Hungary after having fled decades ago – continues from Part 1. 4. Back at the Thermal and Wellness Hotel, I took to the Baths. The Baths were another turn-of-the-century luxury, a cure, a social activity for the wealthy. It also became a […]

by · December 6, 2015 · Culture
Streetcars in Debrecen. Illustration: György Ozsváth.

ProemCards from Hungary (Part 1)

The following pieces are based on my 2010 visit to Hungary and a journal that I kept while there. They are in a form I call “proemcards.” Proemcards are a hybrid creation of mine composed of prose and poems, thoughts, observations, impressions and experiences I had during my stay. This is the first part in a series to appear in […]

by · December 5, 2015 · Culture