The 1877 Dvorzsák Gazetteer

Magyarország helységnévtára tekintettel a közigazgatási

1877 Gazetteer of Hungary

Dvorzsák Online | Churches in Slovakia | Gazetteers | Census Main

Research Application:  Useful in determining where a villager of a particular faith may have attended church.

1877 Gazetteer Summary:  Many Gazetteers of Hungary were published over the centuries.  The 1877 Gazetteer (commonly known as the "Dvorzsák Gazetteer", named after it's editor) is one of the more widely used.  It contains the number of congregants by religion per village, an indication where the main parish was located and summary counts of congregants by county and district.  It indicates "affiliated" churches.  The Gazetteer is organized by county, district and village.  It uses the 1877 village name.

1877 Census Summary:  A town-by-town count of religious congregants, organized by faith and summarized by district and county based on the 1877 Magyar Census.  Sometimes called an "Ecclesiastical Census."  Contains an indication of the location of the primary parish.

Three Accessible Forms of the Gazetteer:  There are at present, three forms of the Gazetteer available to the distance researcher: i) Original Gazetteer, scanned images available online , ii) Original Gazetteer, scanned images available at the Family History Center and iii) Genealogical Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary, Jordan Auslander, 2005.  The original Gazetteer is stored at the Hungary Archives.

i) Original Gazetteer, scanned images available online A nearly-identical version of the Family History Center Scans.  Scanned and posted by Pécs University, Hungary.  Written in Magyar, it organized fairly intuitively for English-speakers.  A quick contents description and link to the most important index pages is shown below.  These are scans of the original books and are NOT digitally searchable.

ii) Original Gazetteer, scanned images available at the Family History Center FHL microfiche set 6000840. Until the availability of the Pécs University online scans, this was where most researchers accessed the gazetteer.

iii) Genealogical Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary, Jordan Auslander, 2005.  This reference, published by Avotaynu is based on the 1877 Dvorzsák Gazetteer.  It contains a very nice cross reference of village names in Magyar against present-day names.  I have examined the village listings and it appears to be a reiteration of what you can find in the original gazetteer.  However, the author has made the work much more readable, using English-language descriptors, the present-day village name as well as some clarity as to where the primary parish church is located.   While other sources of village name translations exist, the fact that this covers the entirety of the former Hungary territories and the price is significantly less expensive than other references.

Annotated Example of the 1877 Gazetteer Villages of Zboj/Nova Sedlica, Snina District, Zemplen/Zemplin County These pages explain how the Gazetteer's layout and contents.  Click on each page below to see the margin notes I have added to explain how to read each entry.  Two examples are shown.
Page 1 of 2	Page 2 of 2

Abbreviations and Other References

rk - RK. romai katholikus - Roman Catholic

gk. - GK - gorog katholikus - Greek Catholic

kg. - keleti gorog. - Greek Orthodox

ag. - AG - agostai - Evangelical

ref. - REF. - reformatus - Reformed

un. - UN - unitarius - Unitarian

izr. - IZR. izraelita. - Jewish

a.  - A. - Also - Lower

f. - F. - Felso - Upper

m. - M. - Magyar - "Hungarian"

n. - N. - Nagy. - Large, big

p. - puszta - Deserted, empty

 

Other place name terminology

 

Researcher's Notes:

• Christian church organization:  A parish is an element of the church structure (archbishopric, bishopric, deaconate, parish, affiliated churches; in that order) Each parish covers certain territory, which usually includes affiliated churches.  Thus one Parish might consist of multiple churches buildings in various nearby towns.  In small villages rural regions, one priest is responsible for the parish.  The priest lives in a parsonage in the "main" village.  The priest then travels to the affiliated village churches to minister to each congregation as necessary - either in the village home, church or cemetery.  (Partial contribution from Vladimir Bohinc)
  
• While oftentimes the same church building survives today, and often the same parish and faith occupies it, this is not always the case.  Information about present-day churches and their organization and location can be found at each faith's web pages.
• THESE GAZETTEERS DO NOT SHOW INDIVIDUAL NAMES OF RESIDENTS.  THEY SHOW TOTAL POPULATION BY FAITH.

Online Dvorzsák Gazetteer , Pécs University (verified April 2013)

Organization  The pages have simply been scanned sequentially, from the beginning to the end of the book.  Traversing through the county is done by clicking on the "previous" and "next" links.  The only digital "shortcuts" on the web page are in the Table of Contents, which take you to the beginning of each county.  The gazetteer is organized first by county, then by districts within the county and finally by village.  Only villages extant in 1877 are shown. 

The primary church village where the faithful attended service is shown.  If the the faith is emboldened, this was the principle church, a building was extant in the village at the time.

To navigate through the web pages:

• Go first to the county of interest
• Navigate one page at a time:
  • elõzõ oldal  - Previous Page
  • következõ oldal - Next Page

Reference Material:

Churches in Slovakia

Heritage Quest Magazine - Church Records

Gazetteers of Hungary

A Gazetteer is not a census.  It is a geographic dictionary, often containing summary and cross-reference information specific to villages, districts, villages, etc.

1877 Dvorzsák Gazetteer

1882 Gazetteer of Hungary (Radix) (offsite)

1913 Gazetteer of Hungary (Radix) (offsite)

Czechoslovakia Gazetteer, FHL

1930 Gazetteer of Czechoslovakia FHL (offsite)

1944 Gazetteer of Hungary FHL (offsite) includes Slovakia

1955 Gazetteer of Czechoslovakia FHL (offsite)

Note: the online copy of the Dvorzsák Gazeteer at the Brigham Young University has been taken down (April 2013)

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Last Update: 15 November 2020                                                    Copyright © 2003-2021, Bill Tarkulich