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Welcome to Hungary 

 

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Welcome to Gödöllő

When you first arrive in Gödöllő, there will be a few things that everyone will tell you about the town. Most of them will probably have to do with the royal Habsburg family, since one of their most popular couples – Queen Sisi and King Franz Josef – have used the Grassalkovich Palace as summer residence.

In fact the town dates back to the Middle Ages when there was a village in the area of Gödöllő, but it was wiped out completely during the time of Tatar invasions (1241-42). In 1349 king Lajos the Great gave the lands of Gödöllő to his loyal friend Péter Pohárnok. In the next couple of hundred years new landowners came and went, like the Vámossy or Hamvay family. In 1692 there has been only 26 families living and farming here.

The turning point in our town’s life came in the 1700s. It was then that a Hungarian Count Antal Grassalkovich became the owner of the lands, moved to Gödöllő and built the palace (1744-51) for which the town is now famous throughout Europe.

The royal Palace of Gödöllő was expanded over the years, and finally became the summer residence of one of the most beloved Habsburg queens, Elizabeth, or “Sisi”. After her untimely death at the hands of an assassin in 1898, the palace was used as a part-time residence by many, including Miklós Horthy, the Governor of Hungary before and during the Second World War. After the war, the palace was used as a barracks for Soviet soldiers, then as a residence for the elderly. Since then, parts of it have been renovated (and still under constant construction and renovation), and it now worth taking in as a tourist attraction.

Gödöllő itself, although home to a royal palace, is a quickly expanding suburb of Budapest. It attracts a great many young professional families because of its clean air and friendly atmosphere, as well as a good deal of high-tech industry, including United Technologies, Avon, Caterpillar and Teva Pharmaceuticals among others. While the industries are attracted by the excellent transportation (connection by freeways to the capital, to the airport and to all main highways), people are attracted to the area because there are many woodlands in the surrounding area. Indeed, it has one of the highest ratios of wooded to developed land in all of Hungary.

One of the other major attractions of the town is the university itself. Its main building is one of the most beautiful higher education edifices in the entire country. The university is also one of the largest employers in Pest County, with over 2,000 persons currently working there. In short, Gödöllő has all the amenities any prosperous town boasts. We believe it is a good place to live, work and study, and we hope you will agree.