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 and the entire Bánát district territory ( named Banatski under Serbia since 1921 ) were part of the Hungarian Kingdom incorporated within the Austrian Empire, the governing rulers. Ürményháza was linked to the administrative county of Torontál (vármegye or county) in South Bánát district (Dél Bánsági Körzet). Draining of the marshlands prior to first human settlement necessitated the opening of the Maria Theresa Canal to bypass the future village of Ürményháza. 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 (Duna-Tisza-Duna-csatorna) and became a sector of this major waterway.

The first settlers of Ürményháza 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 1856 the patriot from the War of Independence 1848-49, nevertheless 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 Ürményháza. He escaped from the siege set by the gendarmes (csendõrs), but killed the local headborough/village judge, his very last mortal victim.

In 1867 the village in Southern Bánát, becomes part of the new Austro-Hungarian Empire. With the collapse of that Empire in 1918 followed by the Treaty of Trianon signed at Versailles on June 4, 1920, Bánát province territory (becoming Banatski) is ceded to the Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom with the village changing its name or official appellation in 1921 to the new Serbian version name “Jermenovci”. In 1952 geologic surveys located crude oil in the vicinity. A large scale crude oil extraction industry is yet to be developed. The village is called Ürményháza by all Hungarians.As national statistics would attest, the population has grown greatly despite emigration to faraway lands but remained a predominantly ethnic Hungarian (Magyar) enclave to this date with its bilingual village folk holding Republic of Serbia citizenship. Jermenovci - Ürményháza is within South Banat District, one of the seven constituent provinces of the autonomous region of Voyvodina in the Republic of Serbia.

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 “ Ürményháza” 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 Temesvár, Transylvania ( Timisoara in today’s Romania).

The original Hungarian " Ürményháza " name was changed to Jermenovci in 1921, following political alignment and cession of Bánát (Banatski since that date) to Serbia. Ürményháza had no connection with Armenians regardless of linguistic connotation that may exist in Serbian or German languages. The word "Örmény" means "Armenian" in Hungarian language, not the word " Ürmény" . In addition to being the village name, 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-1920 Hungarian name of today's Mojmirovce village in Nitra (Nyitra) County in Slovakia. The connection with Ürményháza-Jermenovci 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 famiy'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 descendents 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 (Vajdaság), with Hungary and with pre-Trianon 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 Duna-Tisza-Duna canal (D-T-D-csatorna)

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