Jermenovci

The St. Ana, Mother of Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church

Jermenovci (Serbian: Jermenovci or Јермeновци; Hungarian: Ürményháza; German: Ürmenhausen) is a village located in the Plandište municipality, in the South Banat District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Hungarian ethnic majority.

The St. Ana, Mother of Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church during renovations (18.12.2011)

History

At the time of its foundation in 1817, the village was part of the Austrian Empire. It was administratively included into Torontal County within the Kingdom of Hungary (1538–1867), Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918). Draining of the marshlands prior to first human settlement necessitated the opening of the Maria Theresa Canal to bypass the future village of Ürmenhausen. In 1955, due to agricultural necessity to control recurrent flooding, this canal was widened and deepened to provide better drainage. With that improvement, the flow of water changed direction running from West to East. This important canal also changed its name to DTD Canal (Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal) and became a sector of this major waterway.

The first settlers of Ürmenhausen were the handpicked 62 Roman Catholic Hungarian families that formed the nucleus population in 1817. These families had arrived from Majsa, Apátfalva, and Rákospuszta. 60 families received titled deeds for arable land and dwelling whereas 2 received deeds for housing land only. The original freehold title holders were primarily engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and in growing of tobacco plant.

In 1848-1849, the village was controlled by the autonomous Serbian Vojvodina and in 1849-1860 it was part of the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar, an separate Austrian crown land. After the abolishment of the voivodeship in 1860, the village was again included into Torontal County.

In 1856 infamous outlaw, rural bandit gang leader, the much feared but also loved by dirt poor peasantry Sándor Rózsa (betyár Rózsa Sándor < Hungarian version of Robin Hood>) who entered Hungarian national folklore, robbed with his gang the post office & national savings bank agency in Ürmenhausen. He escaped from the siege set by the gendarmes, but killed the local headborough/village judge, his very last mortal victim.

In 1867, the Austrian Empire was transformed into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary and the Hungarian name “Ürményháza” was introduced as official name of the village. Following the collapse the Monarchy in 1918, the village became part of the Kingdom of Serbia and subsequently part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia. Since that time, the Serbian name version “Irmenjhaza” was used as official. In 1921, the name was changed to “Jermenovci” (It was, however, still unofficially called Ürményháza by local Hungarians). In 1952 geologic surveys located crude oil in the vicinity. A large scale crude oil extraction industry is yet to be developed.

As statistics would attest, the population has grown until 1931 despite emigration to faraway lands but remained a predominantly ethnic Hungarian enclave to this date with its bilingual village folk. After World War II, the population of the village decreased.

The name and its origin

Road sign showing both Serbian and Hungarian names

Built on ingeniously dried and reclaimed vacant State property marshlands, the village was named “Ürmenhausen” / “Ürményháza” / “Irmenjhaza” (Ирмењхаза) in 1817, in deference to its virtual founding father the nobleman and Crown Counsellor Ferenc Ürményi, the visionary public servant, the director of the Treasury’s Crown Lands Department in Temeschwar / Timișoara (in today’s Romania).

The German, Hungarian or Serbian name for the village were officially used in various time periods. Older Serbian name “Irmenjhaza” (Ирмењхаза) was changed to “Jermenovci” (Јерменовци) in 1921. The village had no connection with Armenians regardless of linguistic connotation that may exist in Serbian or German languages (In Serbian, the word "Jermeni" means "Armenians"). In Hungarian, however, the word "Örmény" is used for "Armenian", not the word " Ürmény". In Serbian, name "Jermenovci" means "the place of the Armenians", while in Hungarian, "Ürményháza" means “House of the Ürmény”, and Ürményi literally means: from Ürmény. Ürményháza or Ürményházi < both with upper case: Ü> are proper nouns, proper names whereas if written with the < lower case: ü > it is strictly the qualifying adjective indicating (from or of) Ürményháza as the village. However, in correct grammar, if the qualifying adjective is the very first word of a sentence, or of a caption, or of a local association's title then it must be shown in the upper case (like Ü, not ü).

Notes

Ürmény was the pre-1918 Hungarian name of today's Mojmirovce village in Nitra County in Slovakia. The connection with Jermenovci / Ürményháza is through the paternal grandfather of Ferenc Ürményi: István Ürményi. István the landed nobleman and Crown Counsellor was born as István Kiss in the village of Ürmény, a part of Slovakia historically under Austrian and Hungarian rule. He replaced his "Kiss" surname (pronounced Kish) and adopted the new family name " ÜRMÉNYI " by Imperial Charter in the 18th Century. István Ürményi the progenitor and his descendents left their illustrious mark in Hungarian history. The Ürményi family's ancestral manor-house built in the 19th Century by József Ürményi (son of István) has been the landmark Ürményi Kastély (Ürményi Castle/Palace) at Vál, located halfway between Budapest and Székesfehérvár in Hungary. Ürményi was an eminent family name of Hungarian nobility with branches in Budapest, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania and their descendants across the world.

Geography

The closest bigger places are Plandište (8 km), Vršac (21 km). The village is 62 km North East from the capital, Belgrade. The Latitude of the village is: N 45° 11' 18.24", and the Longitude is: E 21° 02' 22.40". The village altitude is at 75 metres.

Social Activities

Five associations cultivate and maintain strongly the Hungarian social and cultural heritage through the Ürményházi Ifjúsági Klub (Youth club) , the Polgárok Társulása (Citizens fellowship), the Ürményházi Hagyományápoló Kör (Heritage care circle), the Ürményházi Petőfi Sándor Művelődési Egyesület (Petőfi Sándor cultural association) and the Pipacs Nőegylet (Red Poppy Lady Embroiderers Club). The village is part of the Roman Catholic Communities Network (Katolikus Közösségek Hálozata) of South Banat, and thus partake occasionally in social gettogethers of the districts involved within the province. The village has robust ties in every field with Hungarian organisations in Vojvodina, with Hungary and with other Hungarian communities outside Hungary through the bond of language, root culture, common heritage and ethnicity.

Notable Places and Activities

• R.C. Church of Szent Anna ( Church of St.Ann, Blessed Mother of the Virgin Mary ), Boldog Szűz Mária Édesanyja Szent Anna katolikus templom. Built in 1834-35, this church burned down but was reconstructed and reconsecrated in 1854.
• Mineral springs, confirmed therapeutic thermal and radio-active underground mud pools discovered in the area in 1973 yet to be developed
• Marginal crude oil industry visible through extraction pumps in the countryside
• Good fishing in the Danube-Tisa-Danube canal

Major Ethnic Groups

Year	Total	Hungarians	Serbs	Slovaks	Yugoslavs	Romanians	Roma	Undecided	Unknown
1991	1,158	75.21%	7.25%	5.09%	3.28%	2.07%	1.72%	>0,10%	2.15%
2002	1,033	69.11%	10.93%	6.19%	1.93%	1.83%	1.64%	4.54%	2.03%

Population Records

• 1961: 1,792
• 1971: 1,672
• 1981: 1,454
• 1991: 1,158
• 2002: 1,033
• 2010: 1,454

References

• "ÜRMÉNYHÁZA-JERMENOVCI" multjának és jelenének rövid vázlata, A Tudás kiadás- Összehozta/irta Fehér Lajos, Ürményháza 1984.

• Milleker Bódog: Ürményháza története (1817–1906), Versec 1906.

• Borovszki Samu dr. : Torontál vármegye. Országos Monográfiai Társaság, Budapest.

• Wikipedia : Ürményháza (Jermenovci ); Ürményi (the family) ; Mojmirovce (history of the village in Slovakia); Vál (Town in Hungary )

• Ürményházi Attila a.k.a. Attila Urmenyhazi adatgyüjtõ/mûforditó, researcher/translator, Hobart (Tasmánia, Ausztrália) 2008-2009.

• See "Ürményházi" and "ürményházi" under "Google" (Engine Search) in the internet.

• Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj stanovnika Vojvodine, Novi Sad, 1996.

See also

• List of places in Serbia
• List of cities, towns and villages in Vojvodina