5 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know About the Connection Between Veszprém and the March 15 Holiday

March 15 is one of the most significant days in Hungarian history. It marks the beginning of the 1848–49 bourgeois revolution and war of independence, and this day is also celebrated as Hungarian Press Day. The reason for this is that the first issues of the free Hungarian press were published on March 15, 1848.  On the morning of March 15, Sándor Petőfi, together with others, drafted the Twelve Points, the political manifesto in which they set forth their demands. They read this aloud to the young people gathered at Budapest’s most famous historic café, the Pilvax, and they also recited Petőfi’s poem titled 'National Song', then set off for the University of Pest. They read the Twelve Points aloud at several locations, recited and rallied the crowds, and then in the afternoon held a mass rally in front of the Hungarian National Museum before a huge crowd.  The council finally adopted the Twelve Points, immediately abolished the censorship that had been in place until then, and that evening the activists were already celebrating the victory of the Pest Revolution at the National Theater.  As a result of these events, the first responsible government was formed on March 23, led by Count Lajos Batthyány, and on April 11, the monarch ratified the April Laws, thanks to which the country was able to embark on the path of civil development.

1.    Sándor Petőfi visited Veszprém on several occasions while Pápstudied at the Reformed College, and he also visited his younger brother, who was a stonemason in Várpalota. In early March 1848, he arrived in Veszprém with his wife to spend two days in the city. It was here that he learned of the outbreak of the revolution in Paris. 2.    Today, Veszprém County Archives hold the documents of János Damjanich—written to his wife on the morning of his execution: 

3.    An eyewitness to the events of 1848 in Veszprém was Károly Francsics, a master barber, who gathered all the news from visitors to his downtown shop and, by candlelight, he recorded the revolutionary events in Veszprém. His entertaining diary is well worth reading. 4.  Veszprém had an outstanding pro-Kossuth politician, Antal Hunkár (1783–1862), who, as county governor and government commissioner of Veszprém in 1848–49, fought for the creation of a bourgeois Hungary. He was also one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence. On March 15, 1848, he was in Pozsony attending the National Assembly, and upon returning to Veszprém, he directed the formation of the National Guard.  5. During the revolution and war of independence, the Veszprém patriots were stationed at Komárom Castle and fought to the bitter end until 1849— even after the armistice of 1849. Many of them are buried in the Alsóváros Cemetery in Veszprém.