National and historical symbols of Hungary

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Dáka

(The County of Veszprém)

The coat-of-arms is a shield erect with a rounded base. In the field azure a coulter alaisé argent, borne in pale slightly to the dexter, pointed upward and bladed to the sinister. The coulter is flanked on the dexter by two stylised ears of wheat alaisé or crossed in saltire, on the sinister by a ploughshare alaisé argent bladed to the sinister.

The small village of Dáka is situated at a place where two regions, the Small Hungarian Plain and the Bakony mountains meet. The history of the settlement can be traced back to 4,500-4,000 B.C. Prehistoric tumuli were unearthed near the village a few decades ago.

After the Magyar Conquest the area was possessed by Ösbő and Szalók, members of Árpád's clan. In this period Dáka was inhabited by Slavs and the name of the village also takes its origin from them, namely from the word daleko, meaning 'far, far away', or from Dalka, a woman's name of Slavic origin.

Among the landlords of the village Count Leó Festetits is to be mentioned (1843-1856) and it was him from whom Károly Zichy purchased the land and the settlement for his own daughter, Antonia Zichy and her in-laws, the members of the Batthyany family.

Their mansion was built during this period, in the 1820s and 1830s and the building served home for the family for several decades afterwards. From 1949 onwards the one-time mansion serves medical purpose in so far as psychiatric and disabled inpatients, at present 210 people are nursed within the walls of the building.

The Calvinist School used to serve educational needs in the village in as early as 1771, while the Roman Catholic school was founded in 1815. These two schools merged in 1948; thus the local primary school came into being and functioned until 1976.

The office of the district notary was established at Dáka at the end of the 19th century, then an independent local council operated in the village until 1977. After this year the settlement administratively belonged to the Mutual Village Council at Nyárád. The autonomous self government came into being in 1991.

Following the political and social changes of 1989 the Szülőföld Baráti Kör (Friends of the Homeland) was formed with the aim of exploring local history and organising cultural events.