Balatonföldvár

Balatonföldvár is a small town in Somogy county, Hungary. It is situated on the south side ofLake Balaton, approximately 120 km southwest from Budapest. It was settled relatively recently by modern man (mid- to late 1800s), however, archeologists found objects in the area dating back to the late Stone Age.

The town received its name from the combination of 'Balaton' and ‘földvár’, which is the Hungarian word for a defensive structure made of clay or soil, fortified by wood. The ‘földvár’ was built in the late Iron Age, during the occupation of the Celts. Most of this structure was eventually washed away by the lake.

The locals sometimes refer to the town by the name Földvár, without using the Balaton prefix.

The region around Lake Balaton had been occupied around 11 BCE by the Romans and provided passage for a military road from Aquincum(part of present day Budapest) to into the Italian peninsula. This road was considered one of the important roads of the Roman province ofPannonia. Pannonia incorporates the area occupied by modern day Hungary west of the Danube.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the area of today’s Balatonföldvár consisted mostly of pasture land. In terms of jurisdiction, it was attached to the settlement of Kőröshegy, located about three kilometers south of the lake. The entire region around Kőröshegy was purchased and belonged to the Archbishop, György Széchényi since 1677. The oldest known building which is said to have belonged to Balatonföldvár, was the ‘földvári csárda’, namely, the inn of Földvár. This inn was supposed to have existed from about the middle of the 18th century to the late 1800’s.

The name Földvár appeared around 1893, used by Zsigmond Széchényi, the owner of the area at the time. The inn was eventually demolished and a new one was built in its place. The Holovits family rented this inn, enlarged the building with additions and eventually established a more modern restaurant and a small hotel there.

The Széchényi family may be considered as the most influential family, which directed the expansion of the town starting in the late 1800s. Balatonföldvár was eventually developed into a high profile holiday resort. Many rich and influential people from the capital city had lavish villas built there. Several small hotels were established. Sailing became a pastime of the rich and famous. Beautiful gardens had been established. The design and management of these gardens was the work of Ilona Jordanits, who was a horticulturalist. Her efforts contributed to Balatonföldvár winning the 1995 European prize, as the city with the most flowers.

Skoda Felicia

This card is showing old Skoda.

Skoda Auto is an automobile manufacturer in the Czech Republic. In 1991, it became a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.

The origins of Škoda go back to the early 1890s where, like many long-established car manufacturers, the company started out with the manufacture of bicycles. It was 1894, and 26-year old Václav Klement, who was a bookseller by trade in Mladá Boleslav, in today's Czech Republic, which was then part of Austria-Hungary, was unable to obtain the right spare parts to repair his German bicycle. Klement returned his bicycle to the manufacturers, Seidel and Naumann, with a letter, in Czech, asking for them to carry out repairs, only to receive a reply, in German, stating: "If you would like an answer to your inquiry, you should try writing in a language we can understand". A disgusted Klement, despite not having any previous technical experience, then decided to start his own bicycle repair shop, which he and Václav Laurin opened in 1895 in Mladá Boleslav. Before going into business partnership with Klement, Laurin was an already established bicycle manufacturer from the nearby town of Turnov.

In 1898, after moving to their newly-built factory, the pair bought a Werner "motorcyclette" ^{[nb 1]}, which was produced by French manufacturer Werner Brothers. Laurin & Klement's first motorcyclette (which was powered by an engine mounted on the handlebars driving the front wheels) proved dangerous and unreliable — an early incident on it cost Laurin a front tooth. To design a safer machine with its structure around the engine, the pair wrote to German ignition specialist Robert Bosch for advice on a different electromagnetic system. The pair's new Slavia motorcycle made its debut in 1899. In 1900, when the company had a workforce of 32, Slavia exports began, with 150 machines shipped to London for the Hewtson firm. Shortly afterwards, the press credited them as makers of the first motorcycle.^{[citation needed]}

The first model, Voiturette A, was a success and the company was established both within Austria-Hungary and internationally. By 1905 cars were being produced by the firm. During the First World War Škoda was engaged in war production.

After WWI it began producing trucks, but in 1924, after running into problems and being hit by a fire, the company sought a partner. As a result it merged with Škoda Works, the biggest industrial enterprise in Czechoslovakia. Most later production was under the Škoda name. After a decline during the economic depression, Škoda was again successful with models such as the Popular in the late 1930s.

During the World War II Occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Škoda works was turned into part of Hermann Göring Werke serving the German World War II effort.