Komárom county (in Latin: comitatus Comaromiensis, in Hungarian: Komárom (vár)megye, in Slovak: Komárňanský komitát / Komárňanská stolica / Komárňanská župa, in German: Komorner Gespanschaft / Komitat Komorn) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated on both sides of the Danube river. Today, the territory to the north of the Danube is part of Slovakia, while the territory to the south of the Danube is part of Hungary.
Geography
Komárom County shared borders with the counties of Győr, Pozsony, Nyitra, Bars, Esztergom, Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun, Fejér and Veszprém. The rivers Danube Vág and Nyitra ran through the county. It also covered the eastern part of the island between the Danube and the Little Danube (Slovak Žitný ostrov translates as English: Rye Island, Hungarian: Csallóköz). Around 1910 its area was 2,834 km2 (1,094 sq mi).
Capitals
The capital of the county was the Komárom Castle and later the town of Komárom (the town was divided into Komárom-Komárno).
History
The Komárom comitatus arose in the 11th century as one of the first comitatuses of the Kingdom of Hungary. It was situated within a radius of about 20 km around Komárom.
In the aftermath of the revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire Hungary came under military administration and was divided into five military districts. In 1850 Komárom and Esztergom counties were divided along the Danube: the areas north of the river – Komárom's Comorn (Komárom) Land- and Stadtbezirke (land- and city-districts, including the Szőny suburb of Komárom on the southern bank) and PerbeteStuhlbezirk ('seat-district'); Esztergom's MuzslaStuhlbezirk and a small part of Győr County on the north bank – were combined into a new Komárom county (under the German name Comorn) administered by the Military District of Preßburg; the southern parts of the traditional Komárom and Esztergom counties, including Komárom's Kócs and DotisStuhlbezirke, were merged to form a new Gran (Esztergom) county administered by the Military District of Pest-Ofen.[1][2] The districts were dissolved and traditional counties restored in 1860.
Until the later 19th century the area of Lábatlan and Piszke (now merged with Lábatlan) was an exclave of Komárom county within Esztergom county.
In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon assigned the part of Komárom county north of the Danube to Czechoslovakia (Komárno region). The southern part stayed in Hungary and merged with the southern part of Esztergom county to form Komárom-Esztergom County in 1923. The forming of Czechoslovakia, whose border in the south became the Danube River, separated the seat of the county, Komárom, from its southern half.
In 1938, the Czechoslovak part became part of Hungary by the First Vienna Award. Komárom county was recreated, which included, besides the territory of pre-1920 Komárom County, most of the Rye Island. After World War II, the pre-war situation was reestablished, but in 1950, the county was renamed to Komárom as the county was rearranged and received some extra territories. This county was renamed to Komárom-Esztergom County in 1990. The part of the former county north of the river Danube is now in Slovakia, is part of the Nitra region and is largely identical with the Komárno district.
The territory to the north of the Danube is part of Slovakia (Nitra region) and is largely identical with the Komárno district. The territory to the south of the Danube is part of Hungary. The town on the northern shore was renamed to Komárno. Komárno and Komárom are today connected by the Elisabeth Bridge.
Demographics
In 1900, the county had a population of 180,024 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:[3]