Local services
Mayor László Papp drew attention to an important jubilee in his festive speech: 175 years ago, Debrecen became the temporary capital of Hungary, the guardian city of the Revolution.
A tradition in our city is the New Year’s concert held in the Great Church. This time, the Kodály Philharmonic’s free concert was also an opportunity to celebrate the New Year together in Debrecen. The audience of the concert was greeted by the Reformed bishop Károly Fekete, who said that Jesus left us with several words of blessing and salvation, of which he highlighted one.
‘For 2024, I wish that one of the eight salvation proverbs – Blessed are the humble, for they shall inherit the earth – would come with us. God created the Earth to be his home, the field of realisation of the obedience and free life that he gave to man, placed at the top of creation,’ the Reformed bishop emphasised. He added that conquerors and the boastful come and go, but the humble live here among us and we ourselves can be one of them if we rely on God.
‘Difficult years train people and strengthen communities, and this decade has brought several years that would have been a serious test individually. However, the strong community of Debrecen, in addition to being able to master the challenges, will enter the year 2024 stronger than it was in 2019, the last year before the crises,’ László Papp said in his festive greeting.
‘The momentum of Debrecen’s development was not broken by the trials of the past years,’ the Mayor emphasised.
‘Although the last two years were almost entirely filled with problems and difficulties, we can still say that Debrecen closed a record year in almost all areas in 2023. The combined value of the developments taking place in the city, the magnitude of the industrial-economic investments, the strengthening of the city’s economy, the new job opportunities, the number of new transport developments launched all show that Debrecen has indeed become the most important development centre of Hungary and the region in recent years, ‘ he said.
László Papp also reminded that exactly 175 years ago, on the 1st of January, 1849, Lajos Kossuth issued the decree in which Debrecen was made the temporary capital of Hungary, thus the guardian city of the Revolution.
The mayor pointed out that Debrecen had already done everything for development, and this would not change. Among the achievements of 2023, he highlighted the renovation of the Csokonai National Theater building, the completion of the first phase of Civaqua, a fifty-year-old dream, thanks to which the water of River Tisza arrived in Debrecen, but he also spoke about the fact that in 2024 more transport developments will be launched in the city than ever before.
‘We can declare in the last year of this municipal cycle that Debrecen is much stronger, more developed and more promising than five years ago. Let’s start the new year with the awareness of responsible future planning, trusting that we can continue the joint work we have started and, as in the past, we can be the guardian city of freedom, giving hope, faith and a secure future to the citizens of Debrecen and its region, ‘ the Mayor concluded his speech.
The Kodály Philharmonic Debrecen opened the new year with psalms, choral works and organ performances in the Great Church.
Source: dehir.hu
