National and historical symbols of Hungary

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Dunaszentpál

(The County of Győr-Moson-Sopron)

Shield party per fess with a wavy bend argent, base curved to a point, base party per pale. In chief field gules a church is borne encouped (representing the church of the village) – on dexter a sun or, on sinister a half moon argent. In dexter base field azure a fish argent is borne encouped, in sinister base field three stylised vegetable plants are borne encouped.

In wavy bend the name of the village: DUNASZENTPÁL in letters sable, under the shield on the two sides two ears of corn or, following the shape of the shield. (In heraldry the colours argent and blanche and the colours or and jaune can be used interchangeably.)

The church in the shield represents the religion of the villagers. The Sun and the Moon are astrological symbols in heraldry; they represent the eternity of life. The wavy bend represents water life, while fish and vegetables and the ear of corn represent the past and present living opportunities of the villagers.

Introduction of Dunaszentpál

The village is situated in the Southern part of Győr-Moson-Sopron county, on the left side of the Moson-Danube, 15 kilometres away from Győr in North western direction. The Moson-Danube has huge curves, and Dunaszentpál is situated in a curve of the river. Its traffic geography is mediocre: the easiest way to get to the village is through the road connecting Győr and Mosonmagyaróvár, with a turn to the left after Dunaszeg. Dunaszentpál was first mentioned in a written charter in 1391 under the name Zenth Pál. At that time it was the land of the Héderváry counts. The name is given after the patron saint of the village’s church.

The past of the village was harsh. The territory was inundated several times, troops burnt it. Its history was burdened with fire and water as well. The church of today’s village was built in 1846, and it was sacrificed to the memory of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The picture above the altar represents these two saints. After a flood in 1876, the walls of the church were rebuilt. Ten years later it got another altar, and in 1906 an organ.

At the gate of the cemetery there is a Picture Pile, which is called „Fehérkép”. These piles were characteristic of the Kisalföld, and the pile of Dunaszentpál represents a valuable piece. The pictures of the pile have their own story. These pictures show the life of the patron saints. The patron saint for livestock raising was Saint Vendel, another saint depicted on the pile was Saint Florian, who was the patron saint of firemen, and as the buildings had reed roofs in the village, the inhabitants prayed to Saint Florian to avoid fire. The picture of the Virgin Mary and the crucified Christ refer to the faith of the villagers. In the pile the pictures are not painted on tin. In 1859, the pile was renovated, and was adorned with pictures bought in Vienna.

In the 18th century, the river inundated the village twice; in 1783 and 1789. According to the 1784 census, there were 7 noble families, 19 servant families, 19 servant families without land, and 4 servant families without house. At the time of the 1850 census, the village had 450 Roman Catholic inhabitants. After the 1888 regulation of the river, there was a severe flood only in 1954. The flood caused less damage in the village as compared to other villages of the Szigetköz. At the beginning there were two owners of the village, the Héderváry and the Wenckheim family. In World War I the village lost 28, in World War II 17 men. In the redistribution of the land 60 families got houses and 40 families got land. In 1949 the Agreement agricultural cooperative was formed. Most of the active inhabitants of the village find work in Győr, the cooperative has 30 employees.

The village is connected to Győr with coaches. At present Dunaszentpál has 668 inhabitants. The infrastructure of the village is good: water pipes, sewage, gas pipes and cable TV is built in the village. For tourists the Roman Catholic church provides a nice place to visit. The village is almost exclusively Roman Catholic. Those who wish to rest during their journey on the Danube may do so, the village created sandy territories with benches and tables.