Hungarian Identity
The Hungarians (Magyars) are a unique people in Europe: Their language belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family — related only to Finnish and Estonian, thus unrelated to any neighboring language. Hungarian (Magyar) is completely incomprehensible to German speakers — no Latin, Germanic, or Slavic roots help. "Köszönöm" (Thank you) and "Szia" (Hello/Bye) are the most important words.
The Hungarian Character
- Melancholy and Joie de Vivre: Hungarians describe themselves as "the happiest sad people in the world." The history of defeats (Mongols, Ottomans, Habsburgs, Trianon, 1956) has created a peculiar mix of pride and resignation — reflected in the music (the plaintive gypsy music), in the thermal baths (the contemplative bathing culture), and in the ruin bars (the beauty of decay).
- Inventive Spirit: Hungarians are convinced they invented everything important — and they're not entirely wrong: the ballpoint pen (László Bíró), the Rubik's Cube (Ernő Rubik), vitamin C research (Albert Szent-Györgyi), the foundations of computer science (John von Neumann), and holograms (Dennis Gábor). With 13 Nobel laureates (one of the highest ratios relative to population), they have reason to be proud.
- Café Culture: Around 1900, Budapest was the café capital of the world — with over 500 cafés where writers, journalists, and artists lived and worked. The New York Kávéház (1894) was considered the "most beautiful café in the world" and is still in operation today — a riot of gold, marble, and frescoes. A coffee here costs 2,500 HUF (6€) — you pay for the history and the atmosphere.
