The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

addressed a memorandum 63 to Prime Minister Dénes Berinkey (1871-1944)
regarding the “the fate of the Magyars and Germans” of the city. The head of
Sopron’s council first of all stated that “the German and Magyar portions of the
city were equally happy” with the statute. “there has never been an ethnic
question in our city. (…) Loud voices have only recently been heard, as a result
of Austrian agitation. (…) The city’s Hungarian National Council has always
kept affairs of the county’s Germans on the agenda; urged the settling of the
issue, so that the movement would not deteriorate to the point which, after
separation from Hungary, would lead to union with Austria.” Thurner then
drew attention to: “the independence of Sopron must be maintained, even
further developed. This is what the city’s economic interest requires, but the
country’s interests demand it, too, regardless whether we view it from the
Hungarian or German point-of-view. (…) This fine goal can only be reached if
the city of Sopron can remain in its present form, as chartered in 1277 64 and
will not be forced to give up its rights and privileges acquired during the
centuries by being forced by statute 1919:VI, § 2, to become part of the German
administrative unit, or the Hungarian area governed by self-government
laws.” 65
During this time, Sopron was mainly a center of trade and not industry,
owing to a shortage of water, as well as an old center of learning, all of which
would be lost if it melded into the German-administered portion. The mayor
then went on to list the schools, some of which were founded several centuries
earlier, and the number of their students. 66 At the same time, stressed Thurner,
“Sopron has a need for the locating here of the German seat of administration
because without it, the city would stop to grow, but it cannot give up its
Hungarian institutions, either. Sopron straddles the boundary between the
German and Hungarian populated areas. (…) Sopron cannot give up either the
Hungarian or German areas. The loss of either will cut off the circulation of a
side of our city, leading to the atrophy of our economic existence. (…)
Sopron’s success can only be possible if both the Hungarians and Germans
succeed, as a free, independent city, only subordinated to the national
life of Sopron between the two wars] In: Magyarok maradtunk, 1921–1996.
Konferencia a soproni népszavazásról. Sopron, 1996, December 12. [We remained
Hungarians, 1921-1996. Conference of the Sopron plebiscite. Sopron, Dec. 12, 1996].
Szerk/ed.: Turbuly, Éva. Sopron, 1997, pp. 99–105; „Tisztemben csak a város érdeke és
az igazság fog vezetni” [Only the city’s interest and the truth will govern me in my
post]. Szerk./ed.: Turbuly, Éva. Sopron, 1998.
63
Thurner, Mihály: Emlékirat Sopron magyarságának és németségének sorsáról
[Memorandum on the fate of the Hungarians and Germans of Sopron]. Sopron, 1919,
Rábaközi Nyomda, pp. 1–11. (Sopron Archives, T 8 / 2287.)
64
Ibid, p. 4. Sopron was made a free, royal city by King László IV (1272-1290) of the
House of Árpád.
65
MOL. K 26. 1240. csomó. 1920–XLII–2035. szám, 9. old.
66 Ibid, pp. 10-11.
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