Michalovce

The city of present-day Michalovce along with the adjacent lowlands was settled in from the Palaeolithic era. Archaeologists have found prehistoric Homo sapiens skeletons in the region, as well as numerous objects and vestiges by the foot of the Vihorlat mountains, dating from the Neolithic.[3] During the Late Bronze Age, which meant the period of processing bronze as the main metal, the surrounding area was an important cultural and trading center within the Carpathian Basin and, together with the area of the southern Tisa River Basin, played an important part forging relations with areas outside of the Carpathians. The history of Michalovce was significantly influenced by presence of Celtic tribes, starting from the Gallic expansions in the 4th century BC, and later by the Romans.[4]

Slovak historians claim that Slavs arrived in the area in the fifth century, first being a part of the empire of the Avars. Although there is no evidence, Slovak historians claim that the area was part of the Great Moravian empire in the ninth century. It is probably unlikely. The town of Michalovce is the place where the legendary Prince Laborec died and was buried according to legends. From the tenth century onwards, the region was part of Hungary. However, when the Magyar tribes arrived in the late 800s, the entire region was sparsely populated and there were few actual settlements. Much of Slovak history is based on conjecture, legends and nationalism.

After the Ottoman conquest in south central Hungary in the sixteenth century, Hungary was divided, and present-day Michalovce became part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, and later Royal Hungary. The town grew significantly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Since the Austrian-Hungarian Ausgleich of 1867, it achieved the status of a large community, and shortly afterward became the seat of one of the districts of Zemplén County.[5]

The 19th century brought back significant development of the town. In 1828, there were 49 craftsman workshops representing all 22 kinds of craft production of the crafts licences in the region of Zemplin. Until 1874 there were a few industrial factories of local importance in the surroundings of Michalovce (starch factories, distilleries, mill-houses, brickworks) with a limited number of work opportunities. The construction of the railway linking Michalovce with Medzilaborce in 1874, as well as the construction of the first railway linking Hungary with Galicia in 1871, had a profound impact on the production, business, and regional development in and around Michalovce.

More food-processing factories and industrial factories – a brewery, two brickworks and a steam millhouse – were established. Starting in 1876 doctors were employed in the town, as the Štefan Kukura Hospital was established that year. In 1896 the Hungarian language newspaper Felso Zemplén was published. In 1805 a common school is founded, which later changed into a state school. In 1804, a post office was established, and in 1873 a printing office was established.

In 1885, by a decision of the municipal council, a fire brigade was founded, and the first public lighting was provided. Unemployment, being a widespread side-effect of the 18th century, resulted in the emigration of mainly farmers. Many left to seek work in the coal mining industry in Pennsylvania, United States, giving rise to a large Rusyn American community there.

After World War I, in 1918 (confirmed by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920), Michalovce, along with some other parts of Zemplén County, became part of the then-formed Czechoslovakia. In late summer and early autumn (August/September) 1944, 3500 Jewish inhabitants were deported from Michalovce. Since 1993, with the breakup of Czechoslovakia, Michalovce has been part of Slovakia. In 1996 it was made the seat of the Michalovce District.

The previous agricultural character of Michalovce was changed by a number of newly established industrial factories after 1945. In the 1950s and 1960s, factories processing agricultural products, and textile, engineering and construction companies arose. These included Agricultural Business and Supply Company, East-Slovak Dairy, East-Slovak Bakery and Confectionery, Slovak Malt Plant, East-Slovak Poultry Plant, Clothing Company and Odeta, a production company. During the early 1960s, construction of the Druzhba pipeline was a major source of employment.