Bábolna Stud
The National Stud Bábolna Nemzeti Ménesbirtok in the town of Bábolna , about 100 km west-north-west of Budapest , was built on June 24, 1789 by decree of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II and is therefore one of the oldest surviving studs in Europe.
history
Kingdom of Hungary before the Danube Monarchy
The Bábolna-Puszta region was first mentioned in a document in 1268 and describes a region that was used as an interim stop for the cattle drive of the Hungarian steppe cattle from the Hungarian plains to Vienna and on to Regensburg .
A predominantly produce matched by wars shortage of horses for the military and agriculture as well as the sometimes poor quality of hitherto wild relied remounts were, as with the studs Radautz and Mezőhegyes , the trigger for the decision of Joseph, who in 1789 at the request of József Csekonics, at that time the head of the Mezőhegyes stud farm , bought the land from Count Szapáry for 450,000 gold pieces to set up another stud.
The basic stock of the stud horses was initially a colorful mixture of mares of different breeds:
- Arab thoroughbreds
- Lipizzaner
- Andalusians
- Moldavians
- Transylvanian
- other country horse breeds
The reason for the diversity of breeds in Bábolna's early days was the use of the stud as a quarantine station , in which horses bought abroad for the Mezőhegyes stud were housed. In Bábolna, however, there was a tendency towards oriental races from the very beginning and is probably due to the fact that Hungary was under Turkish rule for a long time .
In 1809, Napoleonic troops burned down the property at the Battle of Győr , which was rebuilt in the years 1810–1820. But there was no victim because the day before a riderless horse had delivered a message so that the stud could be evacuated in good time.
In 1816 the head of the stud farm in Vienna issued a decree that from now on the mares from Bábolna could only be bred by Arab stallions. The year 1816 will therefore also marks the birth of the breed of Shagya Arab define which, however, until 1978 under the name Arabian race was run. The focus on Arab horses is not surprising when you consider that this breed was very popular with the nobility in the early 19th century and numerous, costly expeditions were undertaken to acquire original Arabs from the areas of origin.
Since the start of the stud farm, records have been kept meticulously of the horse population in Bábolna. The first two horses imported from the Orient by Baron von Fechting were the stallion Gidran , who was stabled at the Mezőhegyes stud and the mare Tifle , who was housed in Bábolna. The stallion Gidran I from this combination became the main sire in Bábolna and stayed there for ten years in breeding.
After a few setbacks due to cross-breeding with stallions of Spanish blood and English thoroughbreds , the head of the stud farm again demanded a consistent focus on Arab horses in 1836 . As a result, the then stud commander Major Freiherr Eduard von Herbert personally undertook an expedition to Syria in the vicinity of Damascus , where he acquired five broodmares and nine stallions from Bedouin tribes . One of the stallions was Shagya , whom Freiherr von Herbert bought from the Beni Sakhr tribe at the age of six and who in 1978 gave his name to the Shagya Arabian breed. Shagya was described as an appled honey mold and corresponded in every respect to the breeding ideal of Bábolna for the Shagya Arabs, which was aimed at large-framed conformation, a noble type and great endurance, since the breed was to be bred as riding and driving horses. The new strategy turned out to be sustainable and positive and so further expeditions to Egypt and Syria followed for the purpose of importing more original Arabs for breeding Bábolna. Within a short time, four line founders of the Shagya Arab were stabled in Bábolna:
- Gidran
- El Bedavi
- Shagya
- Dahoman
From 1857 to 1860 Colonel Ritter Rudolf Johann von Brudermann (1810-1889) held the position of the stud commander. Von Brudermann had acquired a large number of stallions, mares and foals for the stud from an expedition to the original breeding areas of the Arabian horse and thus made a significant contribution to the expansion of breeding with original Arabs. During his tenure, von Brudermann achieved further sustainable improvements in the breeding of Bábolna through the instruction of pure breeding in the Arabian thoroughbreds and the Arabian breed (later Shagya Arabs) as well as the exclusive use of performance-tested stallions and mares.
Together with von Brudermann and the horses of the expedition of 1856/57, a Bedouin boy from Syria moved into his new quarters at the stud. His name was Nagle (later Mihály Fadlallah el Hedad ), he was later appointed commander of the Bábolna stud and carried out his own expeditions to the Orient to buy horses.
kuk monarchy
With the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867, Bábolna received the status of a royal Hungarian state stud.
The Shagya Arab, previously only known at regional level, finally achieved international recognition and demand in 1900. This year, the stallion Koheilan I , a son of the original Arabian and other lineage founder Koheilan , who was acquired for Bábolna by Fadlallah el Hedad during an expedition, was awarded the prize for the best half- bred stallion at the World Exhibition in Paris . Thanks to this success, Bábolna quickly became one of the most important Arab studs in Europe.
In the stud in Radautz in the Eastern Carpathians in today's Romania , Shagya Arabs were also bred and there was an exchange of breeding animals between the studs. In Radautz , the rearing conditions were harsher due to the geography. However, a stud inspection came to the conclusion that only 13 of the 1,600 horses stationed in Radautz at that time were sick. Further comparisons showed that the Shagya Arabs from Radautz were bigger, stronger and more sporty than those from Bábolna.
First World War
When the First World War broke out in 1914, the number of horses in Bábolna was evacuated. However, complete relocation was not possible; the highly pregnant mares and those who had recently foaled had to be left behind. In 1919 the stud was occupied by Romanian troops and the animals left behind were lost as spoils of war. With these captured horses, Romania founded the Mangalia stud farm on the Black Sea in 1929 , where a breed of Arabs from Bábolna is still practiced today, supported by Hungary.
In Bábolna, however, it was possible to compensate for the gap in the stock that had resulted from the horses lost in the war. In 1914, the Radautz portfolio was also evacuated. Some of the animals were transferred to the Topolcianky Stud , which created the basis for their own Shagya Arabian breeding there, and some were sold to Count Esterházy . He sold the horses to Bábolna again in 1936 and so the war losses were compensated for late.
Republic of Hungary
Between the world wars, Tibor von Pettkó-Szandtner , who received his training at the oldest agricultural college, the Georgikon , took over the management of the stud and - himself an enthusiastic driver and founder of the modern team management - he successfully participated in tournaments at home and abroad Presentation of the Shagya Arab race. Through his breeding efforts, the breed was further consolidated and once-lost stallion lines were re-established in Hungary. Von Pettkó-Szandtner's strategy ensured that the Bábolna stud and its horses were recognized internationally. He became head of the royal stud in Egypt after the Second World War.
Second World War
However, the outbreak of the Second World War soon posed another threat to Bábolna. Von Pettkó-Szandtner organized the second evacuation of the stud - this time the entire stock was moved - and thus saved the Bábolna horses from the Soviet occupiers . The evacuation took the horses to Germany , where they later fell into the hands of the American occupiers and were scattered to the winds through foreclosures.
Only 200 Shagya Arabs were saved for the stud and were brought back to Bábolna. Some mares of these returnees were in foal to stallions that were exported from Germany to other countries, and thus carried unborn life from stallion lines that were threatened with extinction.
1945 until today
Even after the World War, times were anything but rosy for Bábolna . The government had little cultural interest in the stud and the Shagya Arab race and consistently subjected the stud to economic considerations. At first the demand of the market had to be met with heavy horses for agriculture, later, after the arrival of mechanization , the demand for horses collapsed almost completely. In 1966, Bábolna managed to export valuable breeding animals, mostly to Germany and Denmark, and it was not until 1968 that the luxury of buying original Arabs from the El Zahraa state stud in Cairo could again be afforded . In 1983, an association of Shagya breeders from Germany, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland founded the International Shagya Arab Society (ISG) , which is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the breed. The ISG now includes around 16 countries in Europe and overseas and through its work also advocated an upswing for the Shagya Arabs at their place of birth in Bábolna.
On August 1, 2001, with the establishment of the 100% state-owned National Stud Bábolna Kft. ( GmbH ), the tasks of the previous Bábolna AG were divided into two parts. The maintenance of horse breeding and the stud farm with its castle complex, which is part of the national cultural heritage, became the task of the new GmbH, while the poultry and food industries remained in the AG.
The efforts to privatize the stud by the government, combined with the idea of economic efficiency, but unfortunately also with a threat to the cultural assets of the historical buildings of the stud and the Shagya Arab breed, continue. Effective January 17th, 2008, the acting director of the stud, Tamás Rombauer, was released from his duties. Rombauer was entrusted with the management of the stud and all the related facilities and tasks for 17 years and now fears the final end of the Bábolna stud with a history that has lasted for almost a quarter of a millennium.
As of September 2009 the Arabian Stud has 298 horses, which are composed as follows:
- 19 stallions
- 51 broodmares
- 129 yearlings
- the remaining animals are sport and hobby horses, milk foals and weaned foals.
tasks
In addition to supplying the military and agriculture with horse material already mentioned, Bábolna was primarily responsible for the breeding of his Arabian thoroughbreds and the creation of the new Arab breed, now known as the Shagya Arabs. Even today, the breeding of thoroughbred Arabs and Shagya Arabs is a main task of the stud. For this purpose, auctions take place in which the breeding animals are auctioned off to an international public.
In addition to these two breeds, the Dióspuszta stud farm of the Bábolna National Stud operates intensive breeding of English thoroughbreds , which are valued by their results on the racetracks even beyond the national borders of Hungary.
Due to its favorable traffic situation, directly on the Vienna-Budapest route, Bábolna also organized the meat cattle transports for the state capital at the beginning.
Between 1912 and 1951, Lipizzaner horses were also stationed in Bábolna. The stocks were moved from the Fogaras stud farm in the Transylvania region (now Romania) to Bábolna. The reasons for the relocation are not known, but an approach to centralize breeding is suspected. In 1951 the Lipizzaners moved to Szilvásvárad in the north of Hungary , where they were merged with a private breed .
Running a stud has always been an expensive undertaking. In the past, funding was mostly ensured by the nobility, but now state funding is usually unavoidable. Due to the historical importance of Bábolna for Hungary and the existence of historical buildings, tourism is a further source of income, which is tapped through visits, events, guided tours, the sale of souvenirs and the presentation of stud horses.
investment
Today the stud is the historical core of an agricultural-industrial complex and consists of several buildings and facilities.
Directly on Dorfstraße there is a museum with a permanent exhibition on the history of the stud, a small shop for buying souvenirs for tourists and the ticket office for tickets to the various stud facilities. Guided tours in the museum take place irregularly and by arrangement in different languages (Hungarian, English and German).
In addition to the museum, a restaurant is connected, which offers food and drinks for the stud visitors and also a large hall for events - weddings are often organized here.
On the opposite side of Dorfstrasse is the central stud farm with the stables, the riding arena, a carriage shed and a small park with some monuments of famous people and horses of the stud as well as the oldest locust tree in Hungary, which was planted in 1710.
Within the stud complex, a little away from the park, there is a small hotel that can accommodate a small number of tourists and guests of local events.
A little away from the main complex of the museum and the stud farm, about 5–10 minutes away on foot, there is a small park with a small lake, some paths with botanical explanations of the plantings, as well as some small animal enclosures and an ancestral area with memorial plaques for famous horses of the stud .
The pastures for the stud's young horses begin adjacent to the park. The rearing takes place in a separate building complex with its own stables and rearing boxes. The facility can be reached via another village road and can also be visited by tourists.
In a stable complex, the brood mares, depending on the season with foals by foot, as well as the young animals in several open stables are settled. The stud stallions are housed in the stables of the main complex and are thus spatially separated from the mares.
List of expeditions to the Orient
| Year (s) | Expedition leader | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1836 | Major Freiherr von Herbert | 9 stallions 5 mares |
| 1843 | Major Freiherr von Herbert | 8 stallions (including Aslan and Koreischan ) 2 mares |
| 1852 | Major Gottschligg | 6 stallions (including Dahoman , who was the founder of the stallion line of the same name in Radautz, which still exists today) |
| 1856/57 | Colonel von Brudermann | The delivery of von Brudermann for Austria and Hungary comprised: 16 stallions (including Aghil Aga ) 50 mares (some of which can still be found in the pedigrees today) 14 foals Colonel von Brudermann, who was regarded as a first-class horse expert, brought from the Orient the most beautiful and best horses that could be bought. 14 stallions and 32 mares from the horses listed above were provided for the Bábolna stud. |
| 1866 | The Henst Mahmud Mirza was acquired. | |
| 1876 | Count Franz von Zichy | Expedition to Constantinople 9 stallions |
| 1885 | Rittmeister Fadlallah-el-Hedad and R. v. Luczenbacher |
4 stallions (including Koheilan and O'Bajan ) 5 mares |
| 1897 | 7 stallions (including Hadban and Hamdani Semri ) |
|
| 1901 | 3 mares | |
| 1902 | Colonel Fadlallah-el-Hedad | 4 stallions ( Mersuch , Siglavy Bagdady , Shehan- Schammar and Koheilan-Raschid ) |
Photo gallery
Aerial view of the main complex of the stud farm
Park in the courtyard of the stud stables
The oldest black locust in Hungary was planted by Count Szapáry in 1710 and is located in the park of the stud farm.
Opposite the riding arena, the Heldentor, built in the 1930s under Pettkó Szandtner Tibor, is the main entrance to the stud farm. Marble plaques commemorate the fallen of Bábolna during the revolution of 1848–49 and the two world wars.
Bust of the Syrian commander Fadlallah el Hedad Mihály
The riding arena is 15 × 44 meters in size and almost 200 years old.
The carriage museum houses 15 historic carriages, some of which are still in use today.
See also
literature
- Walter Hecker: Bábolna and his Arabs . ISG Verlag Elisabeth and Bruno Furrer, CH-8500 Gerlikon 1994
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b History of the Arabian Stud on the website of the National Stud Bábolna ( Memento from February 17th, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ a b c d e f g h History of the Hungarian State Stud Bábolna ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ THE HOME OF THE SHAGYA ARABS: BÁBOLNA
- ^ Bábolna State Stud
- ↑ Josef von Csekonics
- ↑ a b Website of the Bábolna National Stud ( Memento from February 16, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Documentation Center for Old Austrian Horse Breeds
- ↑ a b c d e f g h The story of the Shagya Arab and the Bábolna state stud
- ↑ a b Tibor von Pettkó-Szandtner vitéz Felsödriethoma, a life for the noble horse. (PDF; 1.7 MB) in the information sheet of the International Shagya Arab Society 2009-2, accessed on March 3, 2010
- ↑ http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/biog/brudermannsenior.htm
- ↑ a b c Susanne Spottke: "Arabian Horses". Müller Rüschlikon Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-275-01325-4
- ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Open letter from Tamás Rombauer
- ↑ Heinz Nürnberg: "The Lipizzaner". Westarp Sciences (January 1993), ISBN 3-89432-404-X
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Website of the International Shagya Arab Society (ISG) ( Memento from November 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ A b Eduard Löffler: "The Austrian horse purchase mission under the KK Obersten Ritter R. v. Brother man in Syria, Palestine and the desert: In the years 1856 and 1857 ”. Georg Olms Verlag, 1978, ISBN 3-487-08174-1
Coordinates: 47 ° 38 ′ 28 " N , 17 ° 58 ′ 53" E