Kežmarok
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Town
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Church in Kežmarok, Slovakia
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Coat of arms | |
| Etymology: "cheese market" | |
  Kežmarok Location of Kežmarok in Prešov Region Show map of Prešov Region Kežmarok Location of Kežmarok in Slovakia Show map of Slovakia | |
| Coordinates: 49°08′01″N 20°25′35″E / 49.13361°N 20.42639°E / 49.13361; 20.42639 | |
| Country |  Slovakia |
| Region | Prešov |
| District | Kežmarok |
| First mentioned | 1251 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ján Ferenčák |
| Area | |
| • Total | 24.78 km2 (9.57 sq mi) |
| (2022) | |
| Elevation | 627[2] m (2,057[2] ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 15,304 |
| • Density | 620/km2 (1,600/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code |
060 01[2]
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| Area code | +421 52[2] |
| Car plate | KK |
| Website | www.kezmarok.sk |
| Sources:[4][5] | |
Kežmarok (German: KesmarkorKäsmark; Hungarian: Késmárk, Rusyn: Кежмарок, Yiddish: קעזמאַרק, romanized: Kezmark, Polish: Kieżmark) is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia (population 16,000), on the Poprad River. Prior to World War I, it was in Szepes county in the Kingdom of Hungary.
Settlement at Kežmarok dates back to the Upper Stone Age. In the 13th century the region contained a community of Saxons, a Slovak fishing village, a Hungarian border post and a Carpathian German settlement. Its Latin name was first mentioned in 1251 as Villa (Saxonum apud Ecclesiam) Sancte Elisabeth. In 1269 Kežmarok received its town charter. It also had the right to organize a cheese market (hence the German name Kesmark ("Käsemarkt" - "cheese market"). In 1433 the town was severely damaged by a Hussite raid. After 1440, the count of Spiš had a seat in Kežmarok. In the 15th century (and then once more in 1655), Kežmarok became a free royal town.
The town was a stronghold of the noble Thököly family. The Hungarian magnate and warrior Imre Thököly was born in the town in 1657.[6] He died in exile in Turkey in 1705 but in the 20th century his body was returned to Kežmarok and he is buried in a noble mausoleum in the town's Lutheran church.
The town's other monuments include a castle, many Renaissance merchant houses, and a museum of ancient books. In pride of place is the Protestant church built in 1688 entirely of wood. The church also contains an organ of 1719 with wooden pipes. The church has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.
Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Kežmarok was part of Szepes County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, it was part of the Slovak Republic. On 27 January 1945, the Red Army dislodged the Wehrmacht from Kežmarok in the course of the Western Carpathian offensive and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia. Kežmarok had an ethnic German majority until around 1910, and Germans stayed a large minority until the end of World War II. Most Germans were evacuated to Germany or the Sudetenland before the arrival of the Red Army. The evacuation was mostly the initiative of Adalbert Wanhoff and prepared the diocese of the German Evangelical Church between mid-November 1944 and 21 January 1945. It also had a large and active Jewish community. During World War II, under the auspices of the First Slovak Republic, nearly 3,000 of the town's Jews were deported to German death camps. The town's pre-war Jewish cemetery has now been restored.
The town contains many historic monuments, including the Basilica of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the Wooden articular church in Kežmarok.
According to the 2001 census, the town had 17,383 inhabitants. 95.21% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1.59% Roma, 0.83% Czechs and 0.43% Germans.[7] The religious makeup was 77.50% Roman Catholics, 10.98% people with no religious affiliation, 4.83% Lutherans and 2.63% Greek Catholics.[7]
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