National and historical symbols of Hungary

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Bakonybánk

(County Komárom-Esztergom)

Shield erect lined or, at honour point party per fess with a wavy line of division, the base curved to a point. Tinctures: chief azure, fess proper (brown), base vert. At nombril a bar wavy argent. The upper and lower wavy lines bordering the fess are rhytmically counterpoised (ie. the upper convex is counterpoised by the lower concave). Although Bakonybánk's coat-of-arms is extraordinarily simple in its appearance, the colours carry manifold meanings. The blue evokes the clear sky, the brown refers to the terrain and the location of the settlement, the silver band symbolises the winding Bakony-ér (brook), whereas the colour green represents the flat fields stretching beyond it.

Bakonybánk's inner area is 88 hectares, the outer fields include 1,419 hectares, while the number of inhabitants is 540.

Due to the lack of proven facts, it is now difficult to say whether the settlement acquired its name from the title of bán or from its diminutive bánk, or rather from the Bánki family, who owned it at the time when it was first mentioned in a document. However, it is certain that the name is related to a person or a proper name. The archeological finds unearthed in the area suggest that this region got populated in the Roman age. The settlement is located by the northern edge of the smaller region called Súr-Bakonyalja in the southwestern corner of the county, and lies in the vicinity of the county's 'triple border' with the counties Veszprém and Győr-Moson-Sopron.

Bakonybánk is accessible from trunk road 81 via Kisbér and from trunk road 82 via Veszprémvarsány. The distance of these settlements is 14 and 9 kilometres respectively. The village also has a railway station of its own.

The first written record from 1340 mentions the village as Bankfelde, while another one, dated 1395, refers to it by the name Bankhaza. The settlement's name as Bank appears for the first time in a document in 1488, when it was owned by Márton and Mátyás Bánki. Later, in the 1520s, the landlord was János Józsa of Bánkháza. The Turks burnt it twice, that is why it was resettled only later by Catholic and Lutheran Hungarians. In those times the village was owned by the Ördögh, Garmanecz and Nagy families, and was inhabited by approximately 500 people, who made their living of and supported the estate with agricultural production and carting goods. From the late 18th century onward the owners of the village changed frequently: first it was possessed by the Esterházy family, then by the Hunkárs, Stróbels, Potyandis and Dombays.

Owing to the railway built between Bánhida and Pápa at the end of the next century, Bakonybánk got a railway station of its own, as well as a post and a telegraph office. In the two world wars the village lost many lives. In 1950 it was attached to Komárom county, from 1975 it belonged to the neighbouring Bakonyszombathely, and later to Kisbér's zone of attraction. Following the political changes of 1989, Bakonybánk once again became independent.

The greatest son of the settlement was Donát Bánki (Löwinger) (1852-1922), an inventor, a university professor and member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It was he who, together with János Csonka, had the carburettor patented. In addition to many other inventions, he also constructed the first water turbine. To pay homage to his memory, in 1984 an exhibition was opened in the Bezerédi mansion (which also houses the local library), and in the vicinity of the Stróbel mansion a memorial park was established, where the water turbine constructed by Donát Bánki can also be seen.

The viability of the settlement was proven by the fact that the number of inhabitants was constantly on the increase, although from the 1970s onward it started to decline; this tendency has not changed in our days either. That is why the average age of the inhabitants is also rising. In the earlier decades the main employer in the village was the agricultural co-operative founded in 1949.

Due to the process of economic and agricultural transformation occurring in the late 1980s, the unskilled workforce, which had done manual work, became unemployed, while the more educated dwellers had to commute. The co-operative farm first ceased to exist, then it was reorganised by the name Bakonybánk MgTsz. As a result of compensation paid to the former smallholders, many of them chose individual farming as the source of living. There are three to four companies working in the iron and food industry, but only 14-16 private entrepreneurs and partnerships have been recorded. Bakonybánk owns a kindergarten with a capacity of 25, a five-classroom school building, a public library and a general practitioner's surgery. The local families own about 70 cars and 130 telephone lines.

Of the 216 dwelling houses of the settlement 35 have gas heating, and the conditions for energy supply are accessible for every household. However, running water is only available in 80 per cent of them. Sewage treatment and drainage are still to be seen to.

The oldest buildings of the settlement include the Roman Catholic church built in the time of the Esterházys, the Hunkár mansion dating back to the 1780s, the Bezerédi mansion built in 1807 and the Stróbel mansion erected in 1922 in eclectic style.

Pictures:

1. Roman Catholic church

2. Stróbel mansion

3. Donát Bánki Memorial