It is a well know elemental truth that history is always written by the victors, because of this and also because of the understandable partiality towards one’s birthplace, homeland, nation living in the people’s heart it is a very sensitive subject. Probably it is themost sensitive subject of mankind, which supposed to prove thesubordination of people over and below each other in a bad and misguided way. As I wrote earlier the partiality is understandable but only in a healthy, duly supported manner and not based on fictional, unprincipled distorted theories which are at time of articulation are clearly and knowingly false for the speaker and for everybody else. The distortion of history inside a country, a nation is unhealthy, leads to deformation and malady, and makes the peaceful, mutually strengthening, respecting and helpful coexistence between countries impossible. We know that in power games this attitude is exactly what one should avoid, for one can truly well fish only in troubled waters.We try to explore a way on our historicaleducational trail that is acceptable to all. And is not leading us into an impenetrable jungle nor into a salty desert.
The Saint King’s dynasty the Árpád dynasty
The acts of our ancestors who finally occupied the Carpathian-basin in 985 are well known. We won’t start neither from Nimrod nor from Attila, for be it true or not it would only lead us to endless dispute. Those who consider Álmos and Árpád to be the first Magyars, keep and honor their legacy, those whose eye can see further should be proud of their belief. May this give them attitude but not ostentation. The era known as the invasions, which lasted for nearly a century in the 9th and 10th century, during which we were always called in as allies by the factious local potentates. Europe to this day mentions the „barbarian Hungarians”. Less or in different light are we hearing about the campaigns of the Norman-Vikings, the conquistadors wiping out the Native Americans or about the deeds of the colonizers nearly a millennia later. Our Arpad dynasty kings are to us like the Piast dynasty to the polish, the Przemyśl to the Czech, the Capet to the French or the Liudolf to the Germans etc. They were our truthful, national, kings, chosen by the people. The dynasty’s founder Árpád defeated the joint forces of East Francia at the Battle of Pressburg in 907 AD. The leader of the army Liutpold, Margrave of Bavaria died in the battle along with archbishop Ditmar, several bishops and nearly 20 counts. Árpád and three of his sons also had fallen victim to the first patriotic war of The Carpathian homeland. Vajk, son of Gyeucsa-Géza the great-great grandchild of Árpád, the heir apparent according to tradition, went against Koppány for the throne. With completely different instruments but in their own way both of them fought for the survival and elevation of the Magyars. The millennial long debate must be closed by seeing the good in both of them and forgiving the wrong. Still to this day the finger pointing weakens our homeland’s unity, which is crucially needed. The goal of István/Vajk was to belong to the Western Christianity against the Eastern. As István he was victorious and thereafter our King László, the grandson of Vazul whom he blinded, canonized him in 1083. At the same time they also canonized his son prince Imre. In 1031 he was murdered by a boar, coincidently at the same time when with the death of his uncle Saint Henrik the 2nd the Bavarian dynasty extinct on the spear side, and his cousin Imre the last descendant on the distaff side could have inherited the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. István’s sister or daughter married the Anglo-Saxon prince Edmund, who fled from the Normans to us. Their daughter the later canonized Margit, upon returning to her homeland, she became Queen of Scotland and with her faith restored peace. We continue the line of saints with László, the knight ideal of his time, was the elected leader of the departing crusader army for the Holy Land. The crusade has been foiled by his death in 1095. His daughter was Saint Piroska (Saint Irene of Hungary) wife of John II Komnenos emperor of the Byzantine Empire and mother of the future emperor Manuel I Komnenos. She founded the Monastery Pantokrator and the 50 bed hospital attached to it. Saint Agnes of Bohemia was the daughter of King Ottokar I of Bohemia and Constance of Hungary, the daughter of King Béla III of Hungary. Both the German and English monarch proposed to her, instead she founded monasteries in Prague, first for the Conventual Franciscans later for the Poor Clares. Mainly she tended to orphans and the sick. She was canonized in 1989 by John Paul II. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary the sister of Béla IV, our second founding father after the Mongol Invasion, became the wife of Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia. After the death of her husband her brother-in-law treated her harshly and she left the court. Frederick II the Holy Roman Emperor proposed to her but she refused to remarry. Her niece, the daughter of Béla IV, Saint Margaret of Hungary was dedicated from her birth to God in exchange for Hungary’s liberation from the Mongols. From the age of 3 she lived in Monasteries, at first in Veszprém later in a Monastery founded by her parents on Nyulak Szigete which was later renamed after her. Both King Ottokar II of Bohemia and the King of Poland proposed to her, but she didn’t trade the heavenly kingdom for earthly treasures. Her sister Saint Kinga of Poland is the patron of Poland and Lithuania. With her husband the king of Poland Boleslav V the Chaste they took a wow of chastity. After the death of her husband she joined the Poor Clares and distributed her wealth among the poor. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary the last golden twig, daughter of Andrew III of Hungary, following her father’s death (January 1st 1301.) is brought to Vienna with her mother Agnes of Austria. She becomes the target of power interests but she chooses the monastery life. And for 28 years until her death she lives in the Swiss Monastery Töss. She refuses the repeated proposals of Henry of Austria. For years she is battling with illness but she is bearing with it humbly. At her gravesite several people have been cured.
This unconventional enumeration was mainly not compiled upon religious grounds rather it supposed to represent that how highly this dynasty was regarded in the middle ages. From the west Hungary was under constant attack. It was a pain in their necks that a nation with an ancient past is wedging in into the heart of Europe.
The ones coming from the east attacked us for the riches of Europe. For 400 years this dynasty bore this double pressure hanging constantly in the balance. In the Battle on the Marchfeld at Dürnkrut to avoid the Czech hegemony Ladislaus IV of Hungary made an alliance with Rudolph I of Habsburg against Ottokar II of Bohemia. After winning the battle we got out of the frying pan and into the fire. Ottokar’s grandmother, the daughter of Béla III of Hungary, Constance of Hungary was the ancestress of the Przemysl dynasty. The wife of Ottokar Kunigunda was the granddaughter of Béla IV and cousin of Ladislaus.
Maybe the romantic perspective makes it but for many of us they live in our hearts as our own true leaders and kings. Even with their mistakes they served the elevation of the Magyars. Hopes were sparked in their direct descendants the Anjous and once more during the time of Matthias Corvinus, but they faded utterly.
The Anjous and the Pauline
After decades of fighting the Anjou Charles I of Hungary, the grandson of Mary of Hungary, the daughter of Stephen V of Hungary, acquired the Árpáds’ throne. During the following decades he conquered the regional oligarchs. In 1342 his son Louis the Great inherited a solid throne. His mother the great-granddaughter of Béla IV from the polish Piast dynasty is Elizabeth of Poland. In 1370 he becomes King of Poland by her right. After the assassination of his brother Andrew he claims the Kingdom of Naples as his inheritance. During his reign has Hungary its biggest expanse. According to an adage „His kingdoms border is washed by three seas.”. Those were the Adriatic Sea at Dalmatia, the Black Sea at the subservient principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia and almost the Baltic Sea. Almost meaning with the exception of a small land strip occupied by the Teutonic Knights in northern Poland. He has to engage in skirmishes with the Turks. Queen Mary of Hungary, oldest daughter of Louis I, married Sigismund of Luxemburg, who later becomes the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Louis’ younger daughter Saint Jadwiga of Poland marries Wladyslaw II Jagello. Making Lithuania Christian, and becoming the ancestress of the Jagello dynasty.
The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit the white monks more commonly known as Paulines are the only Hungary-based order. They have been founded under Béla IV. It is not a militant order but battle hardened physically fit men are joining in force. Their idol is the paladin king Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary. Louis I founds many Pauline monasteries the most famous being the Márianostra founded in 1352. He acquires the relic of Saint Paul the Hermit and places it in the grand abbey of Szentlőrinc. Vladislaus II of Opole relative and palatine (vice king) of Louis I founds the first polish monastery near Czestochowa at Jasna Gora.
He donates the famous icon Black Madonna of Czestochowa and on her cloak the Anjou lily is visible. The icon is also known as Regina Poloniae, the Queen of Poland. Its copy was placed in almost every Pauline monastery. Czestochowa became a polish national sanctum. Nowadays it is visited by a million pilgrims each year. At the time of founding 16 monks arrived from Márianosztra to guard the holy icon and started the Pauline order in Poland. Up until the Turk invasion they had 200 monasteries around the world. Pope Alexander VI, the famous Borgia, asked them to mark the borders of the Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. They were the New World‘s first missionaries. They were later replaced by the Jesuits. At this high point did the Ottoman came upon us and ruined not only our country but the Paulines too. Cardinal George Martinuzzi (+1551) the founder of the Principality of Transylvania also was a member of this order. From the 17th century onward constructions were strengthened. In the 18th century the Pauline order’s „net worth” was more than 4,5 million Rhenish guilder. To the good operation of the Pauline farmlands contributed their financial aptitude and social sensitivity. For example they lent money on smaller interest rates than others; moreover the poor could get interest-free loans. Their philosophy was based on the teachings of Aristotle and Saint Thomas of Aquino, and last but not least on the strong Hungarian intellectuality of the order, this was the „Pauline spirit”. In 1786 Joseph II bans the Pauline order among the other orders deemed useless. They continued to operate in secrecy. Before the ban the general prior makes the pope take out the polish ordinal territory from under his supervision, so the order can live on outside the Habsburg empire. In 1934 inside the Gellért Hill Cave chapel the Pauline order restarts in the mother country. In 1950 the chapel was shut down by the communist regime and a 2 meter wide concrete wall was erected in front of its entrance. In 1989 after the End of Communism the Hungarian territory could reform itself and the Cave Chapel could slip out once again. Pécs becomes the orders center with a monastery functioning also as a boarder teaching house. They got back their houses at Márianosztra and Petőfiszállás. In 2008 the Hungarian Pauline order had 22 members.
The Hunyadis
The name and fame of our great renaissance ruler Matthias Corvinus (Mátyás Hunyadi) is matched with our first kings’. And there is no other subsequent Hungarian king like him. The family’s fame and power was established by his father the well-known Ottoman beater John Hunyadi. With his talent and patriotism he got into the Hungarian regents chair almost out of nowhere. His long winter campaign and victory at Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) discouraged the Ottomans for nearly a half century to attack our homeland. His son Matthias was „only” left with maintaining the status quo. The fact that this could be achieved was thanks to his strict economic policy which provided him with substantial income. He created the world famous „Black Army” based on that. It consisted of more than 60 000 troops. His court in Visegrád shined as the gem of the renaissance period. His world famous library housing the Corvinas contained 2000-2500 tomes, and the worth of his codes exceeded 1000 gold apiece, yes that is nearly 3 million in gold. Matthias looked towards the west; he wanted to raise his country into a great-power status. Much like it was under the period of the Árpáds and Anjous. Conquering most of Bohemia he also became King of Bohemia, and in 1485 he captured Vienna, where he died in 1490. The death of Matthias ended the centralized national monarchy. From his two lawful wives he had no children. He had an illegitimate son John Corvinus from a civil girl Borbála Edlepeck from Stein, he was recognized in 1479, and declared as the successor. But during the fight for power he got the worst of it and in 1503 he died. Matthias was strict but consistent he banned the lords from overreaching and in spite of the heavy taxation made the everyday life predictable thereby making it livable. The future generations awarded him with the noblest epithet „Matthias the righteous king”.
The Ottoman and Habsburg centuries
The Ottoman Empire turned itself toward the heart of Europe under Suleiman the Magnificent’s rule. He attacked the Habsburg Empire in alliance with Francis I of France. The path, as always, led through Hungary. So the then half a millennia old dilemma came up once again, should we stand with the East or the West. As during the time of István I and Koppány the country split up into two parties. Even today we are not sure as what would have been the better choice. Near Mohács on the 29th of august 1526 the Hungarian army suffered a devastating defeat. In 1541 Buda also came under Ottoman rule, and stayed there for 150 years. George Martinuzzi Pauline monk, later cardinal, organized the eastern parts of the country into the Principality of Transylvania. He balanced between the two parties until no one knew which side he was on. To be on the safe side Ferdinand I had him assassinated. Suleiman led seven campaigns against us. In 1552 at Eger we managed to fillip him. In 1566 he besieged Szigetvár, but he did not live to see his victory and the heroic death of Miklós Zrínyi. He came before Allah earlier; he died in the camp at the age of 71. 100 years later in 1664 at Szentgotthárd the united armies of Europe had a huge victory over the Ottomans. After the overwhelming victory the Peace of Vasvár came as a surprise for everyone even for the Ottomans. The Ottomans received a truce for 20 years and some extra land too.
The peacemaker Habsburg Leopold I in 1671 beheaded the outraged Hungarians’ leaders Péter Zrínyi, Ferenc Nádasdy, Kristóf Frangepán. He waged an extermination campaign against the protestants. After this first Imre Thököly then Ferenc Rákóczi II led an uprising against him. Leopold regarded the Kingdom of Hungary as a territory that was taken with arms and as one that has lost all of its rights. He deposed the nation of its right of resistance which had been incorporated in the Golden Bull of 1222 and also the right of the Habsburgs to succeed to the throne without election was introduced. He issued the famous Diploma Leopoldium. This letter of faith includes the terms of the Habsburg Dynasty’s reign over Transylvania as negotiated with the estates. We shouldn’t construe how much negotiation it contained. Even though the war of independence taking 8 years (1703-1711) led by Ferenc Rákóczi II did not gained it’s end, it gave our oppressors something to think about. 30 years later the last Habsburg died, and the family died out on the spear side. The family by gathering all its strength made the world accept the succession of Maria Theresa. Another paradox was, when her empire was attacked from multiple sides, who did she run to for help and got help, yes from those Hungarians whose predecessors from her predecessors the aforementioned things got as a „gift”. In 1741 she called the diet in Bratislava (Pressburg) together. Dressed in black and with her small son the subsequent „Hatted” King Joseph II in her arms he asked the Hungarians for help heavily relying on their well know emotional habit. It is where the well-known phrase „Vitam et sanguinem pro rege nostro!” („Our life and blood for our king!”) was said. With their help even though the war was not won, her empire was saved. From 1765 onward she did not call the diet together, she ruled trough decrees. Inside the empire a small export tax was imposed on the Hungarian agricultural products, except on those which they also produced in the hereditary provinces. On the manufactured goods coming from Austria and Bohemia a small import tax was imposed, and the Hungarian export was hindered. Her decree incorporating the unified common charge of the serfdom was issued in 1677 and was called Urbarium or Feudal edict. Her educational decree the Ratio Educationis issued in 1777 made education compulsory for children aged between 6 and 12. It ordained a summer break during agricultural labor and of course it prescribed what can be taught in schools. Maria Theresa also continued the settlings into Hungary. On the treasury’s expense tens of thousands German speaking settlers were brought from the western parts of the empire, into the Banat region and Transylvania 350-400 000 Rumanian settled into from outside the Carpathians. The only question is „Qui prodest?” („Whose interests?”).
68 years after her death on the ides of march 1848 the Hungarians once more contradicted the oppression. Kossuth, Széchenyi, Batthyány, the 13 Martyrs of Arad and many thousands more tore the feathers of the Imperial eagle. At the end only with the help of the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Tsar of Russia’s army could Franz Joseph I win. But that was not the last time the bear visited us, during the 20th century our „liberation” took 50 years.
Trianon, the unfair judgment
We arrived at the most sensitive and most hurting part of Hungarian history. At the peace treaty closing the First World War which was signed at the Versailles’ Little Trianon palace. For us Hungarians it is the most hurting because it took the ¾ of our 1000 years old country’s land and 2/3 of our population were lost or rather were taken. The most sensitive for those who got these as a gift and even after 100 years they have to assert that they think it happened rightfully. Most of the beneficiaries start from the prehistoric times to prove their precedence upon this land, but to put it gently proof from this period could only be strongly doubtful. One thing is for sure, what we have a ton of written evidence and archeological proof of is the centennial old Hungarian background in the Carpathian basin. If a mankind independent court could or could’ve made an objective ruling, then the small nation-states based on their growth in the meantime, could have gained territorial autonomy or even border modification but on a much smaller scale. But we know that here people made the decisions and the majority lobby handed in an ultimate to our homeland which in no other way could have been explained. For 93 years Europe tries to asseverate that this has happened and even if it occurred unjustly we have to accept it. Everything else can be questioned but we should forget about this. There is no guiltless nation, nor are we one, but that much guilty we are not and have never been, and all intelligent people know that. No more no less would be the solution here that those lands that for 100 years are moaning the burden of second and after 100 years are still having a very significant Hungarian population would get territorial and cultural autonomy. Let’s see what led to this.
In 1916 the Triple Entente secretly promised Transylvania and Eastern Hungary until the line from Vásárosnamény-Debrecen-Csongrád-Tisza River to the Kingdom of Romania if it declares war on the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. After Romania was almost immediately defeated and made a separate peace treaty with the Monarchy and only in the last days of the World War had declared war again, the Entente first was reluctant to recognize the justness of the Romanian territorial claims.
On the top there were three men debating the Hungarian matter: Lloyd George British prime minster, Henri Berthelot French general, the second in command of the French Army and Francesco Nitti Italian prime minister. The British and Italian heads of state would improve on the Hungarian’s situation but the French official stiffly resists: Lloyd George proposed, that they want 2,75 million Hungarians, one third of the total population to detach, and according to him „this proposal wouldn’t be easy to defend”.
Berthelot: „The statistical data are known to be unreliable. After all who are the Hungarians? The population of Hungary consists of unnationalized people. The original population of the country is not Hungarians but the nations that lived there previously. […] He strenuously opposes the reraising of the question in any way or form. If the council led by the intention to propitiate the Hungarians, who anyway proved to be a particularly insidious nation, reopens this question, what will our allies then think?”
According to Lloyd George Berthelot got into a self-contradiction, because if he agrees with the fair peace then he should be more flexible.
Whether it is possible that Mr. Berthelot truly thinks that peace will prevail in Middle Europe if with time it will come to light that the Hungarian’s claims were just, and that whole communities were given to Czechoslovakia and Transylvania like idiots simply because the conference refused to consider the case of Hungary.
According to him this will lead to war and the Germans and Russian would use the Hungarians, said wisely the British prime minister, who despite his wisdom mixed up the words of Romania and Transylvania. Lloyd George added that except the Breton and Welsh all nations in Europe are very mixed, in particularly emphasized the French.
At the end of the debate Berthelot confessed that the French government had previously promised the occupied Hungarian territories to the Czechoslovaks, the Yugoslavs, and the Romanians, so it is impossible to debate any further on the borders.
Lloyd George was completely taken aback that without the consent of the British government the French have committed themselves on such an important matter. The debate was closed with that that the renegotiating of the borders was not announced but they will examine if some of the Hungarians’ claims can be acknowledged.
Eventually the French standpoint was implemented.
How Trianon was seen by the Hungarian public: „Austria was split up as one autocratic state over many nations would not be tolerated in Europe. And instead of one Austria they made a Czechoslovakia consisting of Czechs, Moravians, Slovaks, Polish, Hungarians, Germans and Little Russians; made a Romania consisting of Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, Serbs, Bulgarians, Turkish, Tartars and Gypsies; and made a Yugoslavia consisting of Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, Slovenians, Turkish, Hungarians, Montenegrins, Wends, Romanians, Albanians, Italians and Vlachs. So instead of one Austria they made four.”
Charles Tisseyre a representative of the French Parliament wrote a book about the circumstances of the war’s outbreak: „István Tisza was the only leading statesman in Europe who seriously raised concerns against the war.” He was voted down on the Privy Council following the assassination by those ethnic politicians who were then still considered Austrian and whose homeland was later considered among the winning parties, and were actively taking part in the misinterpretation of Hungary’s role in the war in front of the World’s public opinion.
The earl Mihály Károlyi wrote in his memoirs: „At the end of 1916, when we stood best on the battlefields nor István Tisza nor Hungary had any conquering intentions.”
We could go into detail with what we described here, but there is no need for it. From the aforementioned quotes we can clearly see the truth, so we shouldn’t forget this.
The short history of the Hungarian hiking and mountaineering
A hiker is a person who sets sail because during the monotony of his occupation and the multitude of his problems a better world appears before him. A world in which the grass is greener, the sky is bluer, the mountains are higher, the houses are prettier or stranger, the people are friendlier and he istirelessly going to any lengths while in pursuit of the original of this dream and because we are living on this planet maybe he will never find it but he is not losing his mirth for this search brings him joy.
Dr. Lóránd Eötvös
Son of writer and statesman József Eötvös, he was a highly recognized scientist, president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, university teacher, minister of education (1895), member of the house of lords, inventor of the Eötvös pendulum. He was one the best-known mountaineer of his time. In 1877 with Michael Innerkofler his mountain guide he was the first to climb the peak of Zwölferkofel (3091 m). In the next year he was the first person to reach the summit of Rotwand (2966 m) in Sexten, and in 1879 he was the first one on the Elferkofel Peak (3115 m), Einserkofel (2698 m). He made his greatest climbing achievement in 1884 whenhe was the first to reach the summit of the previously unreachable Croda da Lagóra (2709 m) cresting over Cortina d’Ampezzo in South Tirol. Apart from this he is also known forbeing the first climber on top of other Alpine peaks: in the Dolomites he made 25-30 first ascensions. He climbed every peak and mountain pass of the Cadin Group some of them multiple times. He alsoengrafted his daughters Rolanda and Ilonawith the love for the mountains who were the first ones climbing the Tofana de Roces and the South wall of the Grohmanspitze.
Using his great prestige he was elected president of the Hungarian Tourist Association formed in 1891, he held this function for eight years (1891-1899), after that he became an honorary member of the association.
Dr. Ödön Téry doctor (1856-1917) one of the founder of the Hungarian hiking movement. At first he trekked throughout the Pilis and Börzsöny later he hiked in the Tatra Mountains. He was the first to climb several peaks in the High-Tatras. He’s also credited with the founding of the first mountain shelter on the Dobogókő. The Hungarian Tourist Association was founded in 1899 on the 29th of September, he became its first vice president. His work was enthroned with the opening of the Téry-cabin which was opened on august 22 in 1899 being the highest altitude (2016 m) mountain cabin in Hungary.
On August 10th 1873 the Hungarian Carpathian Association (MKE) was founded in Tátrafüred, being the seventh in line of the big Alpine associations.
Emil Zsigmondy at the end of the 1870’s wasbeing ahead of its time with decades in guideless climbing. He climbed more than one hundred higher than 3000 m peaks and he published his experiences in several publications. One of his best known books is Die Gefahren der Alpen (The Dangers of the Alps) which was for a long time a fundamental work in climbing, and to this day it contains relevant knowledge. Emil Zsigmondy is remembered by a mountain cabin named after him in the Dolomites and also the Feldkopf or Zsigmondy peak in the Zillertal Alps. The latter he climbed together with his brother Otto being the first ones in 1879. In 1885 during the climbing of Pic de la Meje he fell down. He passed away aged 24 which broke his doctoral career in half, but his climbing career gave him eternal life. His brother Richard was a Nobel laureate chemist his cousin was a well-known architect.
Before the turn of the century even some scientific expedition brought serious climbing achievements. Mór Déchy (1851-1917) the first Hungarian climber on the Mont-Blanc and on the Matternhorn during the seven Caucasus expedition he reachedthe peaks Elbrus and Kazbek. He was the first Hungarian above 5000 m. He was one of the founders of the Hungarian Cartographical Society.
Aurél Stein Orientalist (1862-1943) during one of his trips in Inner Asia on the Muztag Ata he reached above 6000 m. Hungarians reached above 7000 m in 1967 in the Pamir Mountains on the then Lenin Peak now Ibn Sina Peak (7134) they were Tivadar Honfi, Rupert Tátrai, Péter Pál Kristóf, József Pick.
The first Hungarian rock climbing competition was held in 1973 it was organized by Meteor and it was held on the walls of Oszoly, Delágó and Veszprém on their direct routes at the time. Later the Aggtelek Cup Rock Climbing Competition was organized every year.
On the 1st of October 1987. the first Hungarian 8000 m climb was made on the Shisha Pangma (8046 m , Himalayas) (it was the third Hungarian Himalaya expedition, its members were dr. Sándor Nagy, Attila Ozsváth, Zoltán Balaton, József Csíkos, László Várkonyi and László Vörös).
The first ascension on the Mount Everest (8850 m, Himalaya) by a Hungarian (Zsolt Erőss) through the Southeast ridge route with oxygen tank took place on the 25th of May 2002.
The first Hungarian ascension of the Gasherbrum II. (8035 m, Karakorum) took place on the 19th of July 2003 it was also the first Hungarian woman on an eight thousand (Zsolt Erőss, Júlia Nedeczky, Dávid Klein, László Mécs and Anita Ugyan). During the 2002 Everest expedition László Várkonyi reached the South Peak (8750 m) without supplemental oxygen (to this day this is the Hungarian height record).
Zsolt Erőss the most successful alpine climber he conquered ten peaks higher than 8000 m (two of these with artificial foot), with this he got into the ranks of international top climbers. On the 21st of May 2013 during the descent after climbing the Kangchenjunga he disappeared. Anita Ugyan is the first Hungarian woman on the Everest (2009) and the only Hungarian who stood atop the peak twice (2010).
Alexander Csoma de Kőrös rest
Kőrös 1784. April 4. – 1842 April 11. Darjeeling, India. Linguist founder of Tibetan philology. His life goal was to go on a quest of finding the homeland of the Hungarians. He began his great journey on foot in the autumn of 1819. He only reached Tibet, and running low on his money never went any further. In the service of the English Asiatic Society, living in Lama monasteries, after many years, he created the Tibetan grammar, and the Tibetan-English dictionary. In 1842 he once again set course for Greater Tibet to achieve his original goal of finding the homeland. During his journey he got ill and passed away. Since then, he has had numerous committed followers. From Vámbéry through Baktay, up to the still living and researching Lajos Máté.
Ármin Vámbéry: He continued his studies in the Evangelical Lyceum of Sopron. By the age of sixteen apart from his native Hungarian he was already fluent in Latin, French and German, while already studying English, some Scandinavian languages, Russian, Serbian and other Slavic languages. He became a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The same year he donated the Hungarian Academy of Sciences the Tarih Üngürüsz. The Turkish translation of the medieval Hungarian chronicle, which was forgotten because of Budenz’s pressure. The medieval chronicle literature, for example, the Gesta Hungarorum, preserved its Hungarian historical tradition in considering the Turkish the closest relatives of the Hungarians. Following this tradition Ármin Vámbéry, Alexander Csoma de Kőrös and many others, thought to find the Hungarian homeland in Asia. He founded the world’s first Department of Turcology here at the Royal University of Pest. Vámbéry was a spokesman for the theory of the nearby Turk and Hungarian folk and linguistic connections, and his works on this subject often exploded heated scientific and public debates in Hungary, which became known as the Ugrian-Turkish War. Vámbéry argued that the great number of equivalents in the Turkic languages and Hungarian point to the common North Asian origin of these languages and peoples. The advertisers of the Finno-Ugric origin of the Hungarian people and language, József Budenz and his followers, attacked Vámbér and his theory aloud, challenging Vámbéry's scientific credibility and honesty. However, the intensity of the attacks on him and his theory is surprising in the light of the fact that Vámbéry never denied the relationship between the Hungarian and the Finish peoples. First calling them Turanian and after the changing of the international scientific literature calling them Uralo-Altaic languages and people (from the Finnish to Hungarians to the Turkish), he considered them as closely related relatives. To date this is still an endless debate, and the Finno-Ugrics are refusing even the debate, clinging on their dogmas. The search for an origin also causes similar debates elsewhere. For example in the case of the Russian origin story, the followers of the Greater Slav and the Varangian/Viking, Slavic mixing theory are facing each other.
They are exceptionally skilled mountaineers and guides. They were employed by big Himalaya expeditions from the beginning of the 1920's. Their life is deeply influenced by the Tibethian Buddhism. Sir Edmund Hillary and sherpa Tenzing NorgayAlongside the roads there are countless prayer signs, prayer flags, water or wind driven prayer wheels. 
Their main source of living alongside of the expeditions is animal husbandry (yak keeping). One of their traditional drink is the salted butter tea. The most famous sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, along with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person on the 29th of May 1953 to climb the summit of the world, the 8848 meters high Mount Everest.
