Siófok

	Siófok
	Siófok
	Siófok
Basic data
State :	Hungary
Region :	Southern Transdanubia
County :	Somogy
Small area until December 31, 2012 :	Siófok
District since 1.1.2013 :	Siófok
Coordinates :	46 ° 54 ' N , 18 ° 3' E Coordinates: 46 ° 54 '18 " N , 18 ° 3' 20" E
Height :	124 m
Residents :	24,347 (Jan. 1, 2011)
Telephone code :	(+36) 84
Postal code :	8600
KSH kódja:	17631
Structure and administration (as of 2020)
Community type :	city
Mayor :	Róbert Lengyel (Becsülettel Siófokért Egyesület)
Postal address :	Fő tér 1 ; 8600 Siófok
Website :	www.siofok.hu
	(Source: A Magyar Köztársaság helységnévkönyve 2011. január 1st at Központi statisztikai hivatal )

Siófok [ ˈʃioːfok ] (German historical: Fock ) is a town in Hungary on the eastern southern bank of Lake Balaton in Somogy County , about 120 kilometers southwest of Budapest . With just under 25,000 inhabitants, the city is the largest municipality on the lake. It is located at an altitude of 124 m on the Sió Canal , the outflow of the lake.

The name is composed of the names of the river Sió and an earlier village of Fok .

lock

Lock and Sió Canal

The Sió lock connects Lake Balaton with the Danube via the Sió Canal . The first lock was built in 1863 after the lake's water level dropped due to the construction of the southern railway line. The port's main facilities, dating from the 1940s, are the water drainage facility and ship lock. A commemorative plaque indicates that this was the first lock with a weir system that enabled the water level of Lake Balaton to be regulated and that it is still in operation.

traffic

Rail : Siófok can be reached from Germany , Austria and Switzerland via Budapest .
Flights : West of Lake Balaton is the international Hévíz-Balaton Airport with weekly charter flights to several German cities, u. a. Berlin, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Hamburg. The Siófok-Kiliti special airfield for general aviation is located south of Siófok.
Roads: Siófok is on the M7 motorway

history

Siófok was first mentioned in a document in the founding document of the Tihany monastery from 1055.

The Turks conquered the city in 1552. They built a fortress and a port. At the end of the 17th century Siófok became a free royal town .

After the construction of the southern railway line on Lake Balaton (1861 - Southern Railway), the settlement slowly changed. Initially, Siófok was only used to transfer to ships, after the level changed by approx. 1 to 1.5 m in 1863, a port was built. Before that, the change took place in Szántód .

Only later did the lake's very flat and sandy beach become popular. Since then, Siófok has developed by leaps and bounds. At the end of the 19th century the central bathing beach was laid out, today's bathing district was built and the bank was fortified.

In 1950 the resort of Balatonújhely was attached to Siófok after the county boundaries were adjusted . Siófok became the county seat.

Today the city is a well-known bathing resort on Lake Balaton. The annual Heineken Balaton Sound festival has been taking place in July 2007 in the directly adjacent Zamárdi .

Party life

Beach scene in Siofók

The seaside resort Siofók ( "Ballermann am Balaton" ) is one of the most popular destinations for young party tourists in Europe . Numerous European bus companies offer package tours (e.g. for Abitur classes), mainly in the summer holidays ( June to August ). The reasons for this are relatively low prices, a large and varied range of leisure activities and a high density of internationally known discos and clubs such as the "Palace" , "Flört" or "Renegade Pub" . In summer, events such as the “Siofok Outdoor Festival” or the “Balaton Sound Festival” take place at “Coca-Cola Beach” and other locations .

Town twinning

France Saint-Laurent-du-Var , Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur , France
Germany Waldheim , Saxony , Germany
Germany Landsberg am Lech , Bavaria , Germany
Finland Oulu , Finland
Croatia Poreč , Istria , Croatia
Estonia Parnu , Estonia
United States Walnut Creek , USA
Romania Gheorgheni , Romania
Israel Netanya , Israel
Germany Bad Kissingen , Bavaria , Germany

sons and daughters of the town

Géza Révész (1878–1955), psychologist
Emmerich Kálmán (1882–1953), operetta composer; you can visit his museum next to the train station
Imre Varga (1923–2019), sculptor, painter, designer and graphic artist
John Hirsch OC (1930–1989), Hungarian-Canadian theater director and director
Petra Teveli (* 1979), marathon runner
Virág Csurgó (* 1972), tennis player
Réka Luca Jani (* 1991), tennis player

Attractions

The landmark old water tower in the center of Siófok. See Siófok water tower

The Protestant Church

Imre Makovecz planned the modern Evangelical Church in the shape of an inverted wooden ship . The Finnish twin city Oulu donated the wood for this completely carpentry construction. The “church is a special gem of Siófok,” writes the mayor on the city's website.
Another landmark of the city is the historic water tower on the Freiheitsplatz in the center of the city, with a height of 45 m the tallest building in the city, which was reopened in 2012 after a comprehensive reconstruction of the tower and the surrounding area.
A modern metal sculpture was erected next to the tower in honor of Count Imre Széchenyi, the great patron of the region.
The meteorological observatory
The Emmerich Kálmán Cultural Center
The Mineral Museum
Galleries