MAGYARORSZÁG	HUNGARY
megye: Hajdú-Bihar

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• alt: Debreczen
• lv: Debrecena • lt: Debrecenas • hr: Debrecin • cs, sk: Debrecín • de: Debreczin, Debrezin • pl: Debreczyn • ro: Debrețin
• el: Ντέμπρετσεν
• bg, ru, uk: Дебрецен • sr, mk: Дебрецин • be: Дэбрэцэн

Debrecen is situated at an elevation of 121 m in the Great Hungarian Plain, about 194 km east of the Hungarian capital Budapest, and less than 30 km west of the border to Romania. The city is the administrative seat of the Hajdú-Bihar County. The municipality has a population of about 199,700 (2022).

Debrezun was first mentioned in a written document in 1235. The settlement was established after the Hungarian conquest and became more important after other places of the area were deserted due to the Mongol invasion of Europe. It experienced rapid development after the middle of the 13th century. In 1361, the town obtained the right to choose its own judge and council. Debrecen came under Ottoman control as a sanjak between 1558 and 1693. In 1693, Debrecen was given the status of a free Royal Town by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. In 1849, Debrecen was the capital of Hungary for a short time when the Hungarian revolutionary government fled there from Pest-Buda (modern-day Budapest). In April 1849, the dethronisation of Habsburgs and the independence of Hungary was proclaimed here by Lajos Kossuth. Later in that year, however, Hungary was again incorporated into the Habsburg empire. In 1857, the railway line between Budapest and Debrecen was completed, and Debrecen soon became a railway junction. After World War I, Hungary lost a considerable portion of its eastern territory to Romania, and Debrecen once again became situated close to the border of the country. During World War II, Debrecen was almost completely destroyed, 70% of the buildings suffered damage, 50% of them were completely destroyed. Today, Debrecen is one of the Hungarian people's most important cultural centres.

The Greek-Catholic church [left, no. 4957: top picture] was built in 1910 in the Neo-Byzantine style by the architect János Bobula. In 2015, Pope Francis elevated the Hungarian Greek-Catholic Church to a metropolitanate with Debrecen as its metropolitan see.

The 'Bishop’s Palace' [bottom picture: background left], was built as an apartment building by the Reformed Great Church. It was constructed in 1911–1913. Containing more than one hundred apartments the building’s first inhabitants moved in 1912. One apartment served as the residence of the reformed bishop.

The statue of Lajos Kossuth [bottom picture: right] was created in 1914 by the sculptors Ede Margó and Szigfrid Pongrácz

The street shown on glass no. 468 [left] is Kossuth utca, which is named for Lajos Kossuth, the Hungarian politician and journalist (1802–1894) who was a central figure for the striving for independence of Hungary from Austria in the 19th century.

The church shown in the background of glass no. 468 [left] is the so-called Red Church, which is a rare example of a Reformed (Calvinist) church in Hungary with interior decorations.

Piac utca (Market Street) [near left, no. 4957] is one of the main streets of Debrecen. It got its name from the daily and weekly markets that was held in front of the Great Church. Before that, it had been called Várad Street. After world War II it was named Red Army Street, but was renamed Piac utca in 1990.

The picture on glass no. 1925 [near left] shows the old railway station of Debrecen. The railroad from Budapest to Debrecen was completed in 1857. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, several other lines opened. The building was similar to that of Miskolc. The Debrecen–Budapest line was electrified in the 1940s, so the railway station was also equipped with an overhead line. The building of the railway station was bombed during World War II. The old station building was replaced by a modern construction in 1961.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debrecen, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debrecen; https://debrecen4u.hu/places/greek-catholic-church/; https://visitdebrecen.com/hot-now/the-history-of-bishops-palace-on-hatvan-utca/; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Debrecen_Kossuth_Statue_(Ede_Marg%C3%B3_and_Szigfrid_Pongr%C3%A1cz).jpg; https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piac_utca; https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debrecen_vas%C3%BAt%C3%A1llom%C3%A1s]