Remember how Árpád’s horse groom was named Csepel? The XXI. kerület got its name from him. Csepel is officially known as the 21st District of Budapest. Csepel became part of Budapest on January 1 1950.
Csepel sits at the northern end of Csepel Island. The island is in the Danube. Csepel covers one-tenth of the island. It is the only complete district of Budapest not in Pest or Buda. The Danube borders it on the west. The Ráckevei-Duna runs along the eastern side. Szigetszentmiklós and Lakihegy border it to the south. About 85000 people live here.
After the Hungarian migration into Pannonia in the 10th century, Csepel Island became Árpád’s personal domain. It was a favorite resort of Hungarian kings in the Middle Ages. From 1484 Csepel was a wedding gift for future Hungarian queens.
The Ottoman Turks destroyed the village and royal manor house in the 16th century. Serb refugees from Turkish-occupied Serbia settled here at the end of the 17th century. Prince Eugene of Savoy re-established the settlement in the early 18th century. He populated it with German colonists. Csepel became an independent municipality in 1742.
The original village was in the present-day freeport area. The great flood of 1838 destroyed it. The new village was built on higher ground. It is now Ófalu or Old Village. The town had 9462 residents in 1910. Most were Hungarian but some were German.
Csepel was a working-class borough with factories. There was even a bicycle named Csepel. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 fighters made their last stand here. Today Csepel has housing estates and middle-class garden suburbs. The district is home to Csepel SC sports club.
Manfred Weiss established his factory in 1893. It became Csepel Works. Manfréd Weiss Steel and Metal Works was one of Hungary’s largest machine factories. It was the second largest industrial enterprise in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. By 1913 it employed over 5000 workers. By WWII it had over 40000 employees.
In 1944 the Weiss family was allowed to emigrate to Portugal. Their factory was taken over by Germany. After WWII the factory was nationalized in 1948. Csepel became an industrialized manufacturing area. Csepel Iron and Metal Works produced tubes machinery bicycles motorcycles and vehicles. 40 years ago more than 30000 people worked there.
In the 90s the company’s assets were privatized. Now hundreds of ventures operate there employing 6-8000 people. Today you can see empty workshops and abandoned railway lines. There are 14 industrial monuments and 30 noteworthy buildings in the Csepel Works.
Noteworthy sights in Csepel include the Baroque parish church built in 1770. Visit the Csepel Gallery and Museum of Local History at Szent Istvan ut. 230. Also see the Csepel Collection of Factory History. Csepel is twinned with several cities including Baile Tuşnad and Găneşti in Romania Kielce and Wołomin in Poland and Rijeka in Croatia.