In 1776, Érd became an oppidum (town). It is possible that it already had been an oppidum before the Ottoman occupation. In the early 20th century, Érd became the property of the Károlyi family. The town grew, but remained mainly an agricultural town until 1972, when several new facilities were built and the tourist value of Érd grew.
Érd was the fastest-growing locality in Hungary between the 1991 and 2001 censuses (up 30.6%). On November 7, 2005, the Parliament decided that Érd would be granted the rank of city with county rights from the next council election in autumn 2006.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of Érd (designed by the local sculptor Emil Eőry and librarian Lajos Horváth in mid-1991) is a shield, rectangular with a conical base and a cut in the optical bisector. In the upper field of gold is a green tree with a black outline and an open, three-branched lily crown set in a five-armed canopy, the lilies of which have three petals each, making a total of nine.
The tree and the crown refer to the name of the Árpád-period forest of Érd and the royal forest ranger. The three branches of the crown are reminiscent of the Ákos-házy Sárkány, Illésházy and Batthyány families, who were vital in the history of Érd. The nine petals of the three lily branches represent the nine districts of the present-day city.
The lower blue field shows a red dragon curved into a wheel, with a Latin gold cross in its looping tail. It refers to the fact that the members of the Sárkány family were the soldiers of an Order founded by King Sigismund. The gold field symbolises value, ideals and harmony, while the blue represents the Danube.
In the city, there are five railway stations (Érd, Érd alsó, Érd felső, Tétényliget, and Érdliget). Passengers can travel to Budapest, Pécs, Nagykanizsa, etc.
The current mayor of Érd is László Csőzik (Alliance for Érd).
The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 18 members (one mayor, 12 individual constituencies MEPs and five Compensation List MEPs) divided into this political parties and alliances:[3]