Kikinda

Kikinda ( Serbian - Cyrillic Кикинда , Hungarian Nagykikinda , German Großkikinda , Romanian Chichinda Mare , Slovak Kikinda ) is a city in the Serbian province of Vojvodina , on the border with Romania . Kikinda is also the main administrative seat or the capital of the Okrug Severni Banat ( Severno-Banatski okrug ).

The municipality of Kikinda consists of the city itself and nine other places: Sajan , Banatska Topola , Rusko Selo , Mokrin , Bašaid , Iđoš , Novi Kozarci , Banatsko Veliko Selo and Nakovo . The entire municipality has 67,000 inhabitants, 76% of them Serbs and 12.8% Hungarians . The place Sajan ( Hungarian : Szaján ) has a Hungarian majority. In Topola (Hungarian Töröktopolya ) and Rusko Selo (Hungarian Torontáloroszi ) the Hungarians make up about 20% of the population.

Surname

The name Kikinda is mentioned for the first time in the 15th century - as Kökénd - and, together with the term Ezehida, characterized this small region with many small communities and lords. The current name can be seen for the first time on a geographical map from 1718 as Groß-Kikinda , whereby this small area was marked as uninhabited on the map. The name suffix Groß was officially used until 1947. Etymologically , the origin of the name Kikinda is not entirely clear. It is believed that the name came from two words, the Hungarian Kökény ( blackthorn ) and the old Serbian Kik (head).

history

The city of Kikinda is located on the territory of ancient, largely disappeared cultures and civilizations . Countless archaeological finds show that people built settlements here 7000 years ago that were repeatedly destroyed or depopulated by wars or other unrest, and that new peoples kept settling there.

Main street and the catholic church

Younger story

Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas

Events worth mentioning begin in the years 1751-1753 when large numbers of people settled there. In the first few years it was only Serbs who, as Austrian subjects, guarded the border with the Ottoman Empire on the Moriš and Tisza rivers . However, these lost their protective function after the Ottomans had to surrender the southern Banat to Austria-Hungary as a result of the Peace of Passarowitz , which they had to conclude with Austria-Hungary in the city of Požarevac . Many Germans, Hungarians and Jews also settled there later.

About twenty years after the official establishment of the local communities in this area, the Austrian monarch Maria Theresa founded the “Privileged District Gross Kikinda” on November 12, 1774 and the city of Kikinda as the main administrative seat. There were nine other Serbian settlements in the district: Srpski Krstur, Jozefovo (part of today's Novi Kneževac ), Mokrin, Karlovo, Bašaid, Vranjevo (part of today's Novi Bečej ), Melenci, Kumane and Taraš. In contrast to the Serbian areas in the Ottoman part, the inhabitants of these places had many economic and political advantages during the Austrian monarchy , which are still noticeable today. At the end of the 19th century, Kikinda was one of the most populous cities in the Banat with over 22,000 inhabitants.

Urban development

From an urbanistic point of view, the city is one of the planned developed locations. The street division was carried out in the second half of the 18th century according to the urban planning of the Banat . The most striking feature of the plan is that most of the streets are at right angles with a central market square, a church, an administration building, a school and a hotel for travelers. The individual districts continue to develop according to this scheme.

19th century

Important years for the development of the city of Kikinda were the years 1848/1849. During these years, the largest Serbian uprising occurred in Vojvodina, which, however, took place largely in the form of social revolts so that the uprising was recognized nationwide. The aim of this uprising was to change the government in the entire district due to the unsatisfactory situation in the district and in some cases discrimination against Serbs. In the end, Serbian politicians were also accepted and the situation calmed down after a very tough period before the uprising and an even tougher one during the uprising.

The period between the middle of the 19th century and the First World War was a very quiet and productive time for the city, which resulted in a rapid development of the economy and agriculture. During this time numerous representative buildings were erected and a flood of administrative reforms began (statute, senate, city council , etc.), which in 1885 led to a clearly regulated self-government of the city.

20th century

On November 20, 1918, at the end of World War I, the Serbian army marched in, which heralded unification with Serbia. The location near the newly created borders between Serbia, Hungary and Romania, combined with poor communication across these borders, resulted in a very slow development of the city between the world wars.

During the Second World War , Kikinda, like the whole of the Banat, was occupied by German troops. The Yugoslav People's Liberation Army captured Kikinda on October 6, 1944. Before and partly during the war, the population of the city consisted of 22% Germans and 2% Jews , after the war it was only a tenth of the Germans. The city did not change its state affiliation, but the economic and political structure changed significantly when the communists came to power .

economy

The agricultural area is around 62,000 hectares. Agriculture is operated by around 30 small businesses and numerous farmers in the Kikindas area.

The landscape around Kikinda, like many other areas of Serbia, is rich in minerals and raw materials . The most common include petroleum , natural gas, and various metals. In 2001, 279,000 tons of oil were produced, which was 37.40% of the total production capacity of Serbia. In the same year, 244,000,000 m³ of natural gas were extracted (48.13% of the total extraction capacity in Serbia).

Sports

The "Jezero" sports complex is home to various sports clubs and, with its hostel, is also a training base for international clubs. The diving club "Orkas" is very active, offering apnea courses as well as diving training and an underwater rugby team.

Culture and sights

The most important cultural institutions include:

Museum (archeology, cultural development of the city, war museum) (1946)
youth Center
Large folk theater with 7,000 seats (1950)

Generala Drapšina is one of the most beautiful avenues in Europe.

sons and daughters of the town

Albert Bogen (1882–1961), fencer who competed in both Austria and Hungary at the Olympic Games
István Zádor (1882–1963), Hungarian painter and graphic artist
Otto Dittrich (1884–1927), Romanian-German clergyman, co-founder of the Banat German Choir Association
Vilmos Korn (1899–1970), German writer
Jovan Popović (1905–1952), Serbian writer and poet
Lala Kovačev (1939–2012), Serbian jazz musician
Gyula Tóth (1941–2014), Hungarian football player
Dimitrije Injac (* 1980), Serbian football player
Savo Pavićević (* 1980), Montenegrin football player
Uroš Stojanov (* 1989), Serbian football player

Web links

Commons : Kikinda - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

www.kikinda.rs - the city's website

Individual evidence

↑ Почетна. Retrieved February 2, 2017 .

↑ Ronilacki club ORKA Kikinda - rkorka. Ronjenje kao profesija. Retrieved February 2, 2017 (sr-RS).

↑ Јован Поповић ( Memento of the original from February 24, 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. , sanu.ac.rs @1@ 2

[1] Почетна. Retrieved February 2, 2017 .

[2] Ronilacki club ORKA Kikinda - rkorka. Ronjenje kao profesija. Retrieved February 2, 2017 (sr-RS).