Читать книгу Walking in Hungary. 32 routes through upland areas онлайн

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In 1987 the MTSZ became independent of the state and in 1990, a little over a hundred years after its foundation, the MTE was re-formed. Since the political transition of the late 1980s walking has, according to some Hungarians, declined, although masochistic challenge walks modelled on the Czech tradition have become popular. By the end of the twentieth century a new generation not burdened by history or ideology was taking up walking, and walking club membership was rising.

The National Blue Route

In 1938 the MTSZ set up Hungary’s first long-distance walk, the Szent István-túra (Saint Stephen’s Way). The 852km (526 mile) route started at Tapolca in the Balaton region and finished at Tokaj-hegy, the southernmost hill of the Zemplén. Its first chairman was Jenő Cholnoky, the revisionist geographer who bitterly opposed the redrawing of Hungary’s borders at the Treaty of Trianon. After World War II the route fell into disuse, but during the 1950s the Budapest railway workers’ union revived it. At first the route was managed by and for the exclusive use of railway workers. The union produced a guidebook and introduced a badge scheme for walkers who completed the whole distance. In 1961 it was taken over by the Communist MTSZ, whose members founded the ‘Blue Route Movement’, a campaign to lengthen the original Saint Stephen’s Way. This led to the creation of the Országos Kéktúra (National Blue Route), which crossed the length of Hungary starting at Nagy-Milic on the Czechoslovakian border in the east and finishing at Írott-kő on the Austrian border. Considering the sensitivity of these frontiers during the Cold War it was quite an achievement. The MTSZ installed stamping points along the various stages of the route (they can still be seen today) and a certificate was issued to walkers who completed all 1093km (675 miles).