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Carei = Nagykároly
"Town of the Károlyis"
Coordinates: 47°41′2.28″N 22°28′0.73″ECoordinates: 47°41′2.28″N 22°28′0.73″E Country Romania County Satu Mare County Historical region Crișana Status Municipality Settled 1264 Incorporated 1717
• Total Area 102 km2 (39 sq mi)
• Total Population (2011) 21,112 2,011 census data
Population by Ethnicity
• Hungarians 54.8%
• Romanians 40.4%
• Germans 2.4%
• Roma 2.3% Population by Religion
• Roman Catholics 37.5%
• Romanian Orthodox 33.3%
• Reformed 20.6%
• Greek Catholics 6.2%
• Other or none 2.4% Time zone EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3) Climate Cfb Website http://www.municipiulcarei.ro/ Carei (Romanian pronunciation: [ka%CB%88rej]; Hungarian: Nagykároly, Hungarian pronunciation: [%CB%88n%C9%92cka%CB%90roj]; German: Grosskarol/Großkarl; Yiddish: קראלי Krole or Krula, Turkish: Karolvar) is a city in Satu Mare County, northwestern Romania, near the border with Hungary. The city was named after an old noble family, the Károlyi. Carei administers one village, Ianculești (Hungarian: Szentjánosmajor). In 1262, in a document, Karul appears as a name of a person, but the etymology of the word can be traced back to the name of a bird karul-karvaly, taken from the ancient Turkish language. The bird that can be found on the coat of arms of the Karolyi family.
King Louis I of Hungary permitted the organization of weekly market gatherings in Carei in 1346, as a result of the military achievements of the Károlyi family.[1] The development of the trade in the region stimulated the wealth and expansion of the town. In the 14th century, the locality was a small settlement with a few streets built around the domain of the noble Károlyi. Wars, plague and famine during the Middle Ages decimated the population and the Károlyi family took steps toward bringing Swabians on their lands. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Carei is often devastated by wars. The town and the surroundings villages suffered the greatest losses during the anti-Habsburg riot, led by Francis II Rákoczi. The first group of colonists came in 1712, opening a century-long period of gradual colonization with Swabians, Slovaks, and Jews. Between 1712-1774,466 Swabian families are settled down in Carei, forming two districts in town. Effects on cultural and social life began to show: in 1727 the Piarist Gymnasium was established, in 1754 the first typography was built, and in 1756 a drugstore was opened.
The town's urban shape is outlined after the great fire that occurred in May 1887, when 250 houses were burnt down. The rebuilding of the houses and the organizing of the streets are done according to the town planning regulations adopted by the town's council.
The light industry began to bloom in the town starting with the 19th century, when the first public institutions[which?] were also created.
In 1887 the Zalău-Carei railway was built and in 1905 the one between Carei and Mátészalka was restored for transportation purposes.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, Carei was part of the territory ceded to Romania in 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon. In 1940, under the auspices of the Third Reich, which imposed the Second Vienna Award, Hungary retook this territory from Romania. During World War II, however, it was taken back from Hungarian and German troops by Romanian and Soviet forces on 25 October 1944, day which has been celebrated since as the Day of the Romanian Armed Forces.
Although between 1760 and 1920 the town is the capital of the Szatmar county, the industrial development is not significant and it basically preserves its agricultural specific until about 1960. In 1926 it was attached to Sălaj county. After 1945, Carei is included in the Baia Mare district, and after 1968, along with the administrative-territorial reorganization of the country, it returns to Satu Mare county.
Until World War II, the industry of the town consisted of mills, the Oil Factory Ardealul, a station for collecting and fermenting tobacco and some small workshops. During the Communist period, Carei gradually turned into an industrial town.
Famous residents
- Count Sándor Károlyi de Nagykároly, I (1688 - 1743) Hungarian aristocrat, statesman and Imperial Feldmarschall
- Margit Kaffka (1880 - 1918) Hungarian female writer and poet
Salvator Cupcea (1908 – 1958), Romanian psychologist, physician, and political figure Oszkár Jászi (1875 - 1957), Hungarian Jewish social scientist, historian, and politician
Religion Gáspár Károli (1529 - 1591), Hungarian Calvinist pastor, translator (first translation of the Bible to Hungarian in 1586) Jenő Schönberger (1959 -), Hungarian cleric, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Satu Mare Vasile Hossu (1919 – 1997), Romanian Greek Catholic hierarch Alexander Ratiu (1916 - 2002), Romanian-American priest of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church R' Yosef Leifer of Pittsburgh (1891 – 1966), founder and first Rebbe of the Pittsburg Hasidic dynasty Rabbi Avraham Abba Leifer of Pittsburgh-Ashdod (1918 – 1990), second Rebbe of the Pittsburg Hasidic dynasty Joel Teitelbaum (1887 – 1979), founder and first Grand Rebbe of the Satmar dynasty Sports Miklós Bródy (1877 - 1949), Romanian chess master Eric Bicfalvi (1988 -), Romanian footballer Adrian Sălăgeanu (1883 -), Romanian footballer Dionisiu Bumb (1973 -), Romanian footballer Szabolcs Perényi (1982 -), Romanian-born Hungarian footballer Silviu Lung (1956 -), Romanian footballer Florin Fabian (1974 -), Romanian footballer Cornel Pavlovici (1942 – 2013), Romanian footballer István Kovács (1984 -), Romanian football referee Iosif Budahazi (1947 -),Romanian fencer Tünde Vaszi (1972 -), Romanian long jumper Others Antal Ligeti (1823 - 1890), Hungarian landscape painter Ferdinánd Barna (1825 – 1895), Hungarian linguist, translator and librarian of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences