Search
Search Results
-
The FOUNDATION AND THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF THE HEALTH COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DEBRECEN
253-278Views:266The article reviews the circumstances of the foundation and dynamic development of the Health College during its first two decades when, with extensive Hungarian and international cooperation, four programs were launched in the college, which had not existed previously in Hungary. In addition, several other programs, that up till that time had been available only in Budapest, were initiated. As a result of the dynamic training development, the number of students increased significantly by the end of the nineties. Because of the increase enrollment, the College was struggling with a significant lack of space, consequently beginning in 1997 developing and improving the infrastructure became increasingly critical. By taking over and repairing old and erecting new buildings the college significantly expanded by several thousand square meters. Additionally, the dormitory of the college was also renovated. The creation of the college was part of the national concept and strategy in the nineties aimed at establishing and expanding higher education for healthcare workers. In the first twenty years, six new programs were launched at the college, and by the end of the 2000s, the institution was able to start a master degree.The rate at which the college was developing was somewhat broken or slowed down by the transformation of higher education in the 2000s, the start and the storms of university integration, the introduction of the Bologna system, and the accompanying structural transformations. The college successfully faced the obstacles, and tried to take advantage of the opportunities arising from the new systems. The 2000’s saw the creation of new bachelor programs, specializations and master programs, including some that had not existed in our country before.The overview of the history of the first twenty years is inseparable from Dr. Zsolt Lukácskó, who was the founding director general of the college and then, after it had been declared to be a faculty, its first dean until 2007.
-
The Settlement of the Hungarian Royal Minin and Forestry College (Academy) from Selmecbánya to Sopron, 1918/19
62-80Views:324The Resettlement of the Hungarian Royal Mining and Forestry College (Academy) from Selmecbánya (Banská Štiavnica) to Sopron, 1918/19. The history of the Hungarian Royal Mining and Forestry
College’s goes back to 1735, the establishing of the School for Training Mining Officers. During the centuries, this school developed in his type to the only higher educational institution of the Hungarian part of Austro-
Hungarian Empire. At the beginning of World War I, it was a Europe-known technical college. With the outbreak of World War I, there was a big rupture in the life of the college. The last lectures started on 6th
October, 1918, but the academic year could not be finished. The troops of the new Czechoslovakia occupied the region. The professors and the students decided to keep the Hungarian citizenship and they wanted to
teach and learn in a Hungarian institution hence they packed up the college and moved from the ancestral residence to Hungary. They had many difficulties during the flight but finally the so-called „refugee
university” found place in Sopron. -
Az eperjesi evangélikus kollégium tanárainak egyetemjárása a 19. század közepéig
177-189Views:224University Studies of Professors at the evangelical Colleg of Presov up to 19th century. Evangelical College in Presov, as one of the most important evangelical schools in Hungary, considered the high quality education of its teachers to be very important since its establishment, and as a rule, the positions of professors were occupied by the graduates of German universities. Before establishment of the College, the Town Council likewise had seen to it that the humanistic „gymnasium” had been lead by rectors with high quality university education. This paper aims at creating a portrait of studies of professors at Evangelical College in Presov, and at its predecessor – the Municipal Lutheran Gymnasium over a period of three centuries, from the half of the 16 th to the half of the 19 th centuries whereby the data about its rectors, conrecors and subrectors were used as a source. In the period of these three centuries 111 Presov Evangelical rectors, conrectors and subrectors acquired their education at 26 universities or colleges. Most of them, 34, studied at Wittenberg (30%), followed by Jena (11), Tübingen (7), Thorn (6), Halle (4), Vienna (4) and Frankfurt (4). Three of them graduated from the University in Altdorf, two in Greifswald and the Reformed College in Sarospatak and by one in Rostock, Prague, Gdansk, Graz, Strassburg, Helmstädt, Erfurt, Giessen, Erlangen, Rinteln, Paris, Vratislav, Dresden and Göttingen. Other 16 professors studied at unknown places, eventually did not obtained higher education. 20 professors obtained their education at more than one university or college, most of them (7) in the first period of existence of the College (1667–1711), and least of them (2) in the first half of the 19 th century.
-
Klebelsberg Kunó és a sárospataki Angol Internátus
84 - 101Views:387Kuno Klebelsberg and the English College of Sárospatak. The study analyses historical aspects and relationships between the English College of Sárospatak (1931–1947), as one of the practical outcome of Kuno Klebelsberg’s education policy and the general features of the cultural and education policy of the time. The making of the College served threefold aims: strenghten the revisionist policy of the regime, emphasize new features of cultural and education policy (cultural superiority, new nationalism) and enforce vivid British–Hungarian relationships. The existence of the College also helped to represent the local and religious interests in the nationwide political theatre of balancing Hungarian Churches. The author reviews the acticity of Kuno Klebelsberg in this project-eg. his speeches, articles, visits to Sárospatak- and also the foundation and educational work of the College. The study emphasizes that tanks to the two decades existence of the College, new Hungarian elite generations were grown up with a deep belief that the only future of Hungary is in the family of nations of western civilization.
-
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF INDEPENDENT HUNGARIAN-LANGUAGE HIGHER EDUCATION IN TRANSCARPATHIA
92-107Views:246This study aims to present the path leading to the establishment of independent Hungarian-language higher education in Transcarpathia. Transcarpathia, as a region and administrative unit, was established within the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic following World War I. After World War II, the region became part of Soviet Ukraine. The first higher education institution in Transcarpathia was the Uzhhorod State University, established by the Soviet regime in 1945. In 1963, a Hungarian department was established at the university, followed by the Department of Hungarian Philology two years later. The establishment of the Hungarian college of Higher Education in Berehove, which currently operates as the only independent Hungarian-language higher education institution in Transcarpathia, established the power shifts following Ukraine declares its independence and the period of higher education expansion. Local advocacy organizations and the Hungarian government played a decisive role in the establishment of the Ferenc Rakoczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian College of Higher Education, ensuring the supply of teachers for Hungarian-language schools in Transcarpathia.
-
PAST – PRESENT – FUTURE: 15 YEARS OF THE KERPELY KÁLMÁN COLLEGE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES
174-185Views:293Student organizations – and within them, colleges for advanced studies – play a special role in the life of higher education institutions. These communities offer not only opportunities for talented and motivated students to deepen their academic pursuits, but also convey core values: a commitment to science, a sense of social responsibility, and a persistent drive for intellectual growth. Colleges for advanced studies build bridges between theoretical knowledge and practical experience, between individual ambition and shared purpose – all within a supportive, inspiring environment. Throughout our university years, these communities become spaces where we learn not only to study, but to think, create, debate, and collaborate. This is why such colleges are not merely academic forums – they are transformative communities. They are places where friendships are forged, life-long connections are made, and professional journeys begin. Since its founding in 2010, the Kálmán Kerpely College for Advanced Studies at the University of Debrecen has played a distinguished role in fulfilling this mission. Following the intellectual legacy of its namesake, the College has provided its members with both high-level academic enrichment and meaningful community experiences over the past fifteen years. Its anniversary offers a fitting opportunity to reflect on its history, its impact, and all it has contributed – to individuals, to communities, and, in a broader sense, to the university as a whole.
-
Négy ablak – a Debreceni Egyetem és a reformáció: (Ünnepi megemlékezés – 2017. szeptember 27.)
155Views:245Four Windows – University of Debrecen and the Reformation (Celebratory Commemoration – 27 September 2017) The University – founded in Debrecen in 1912 – has always emphasised its roots attached to the Reformed College. The aim of the festive council held on 27 September 2017 was to recall the several centuries-old close connection between the Reformation and the traditions of the University and the city through the college’s foreign relationships. The crystal windows installed in the University Aula in 1938 picture the Reformed College and its historical relations, the important stations of the Debrecen students’ travels to foreign universities, namely Zurich, Utrecht, Wittenberg and Geneva. They also perpetuate the latin names of the four traditional university faculties: Jurisprudentia, Philosophia, Medicina, Theologia. In the commemoration high-ranking representatives of the three partner countries – that became important to the city of Debrecen, the University of Debrecen and the Reformed College based on the Reformation – commemorated about the more centuries-old protestant relationships between Debrecen and Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland. In the following, we publish two welcome speeches and two lectures heard in the celebratory commemoration. -
The Neolatin Greeting Poems of the 17th century Professors of the Calvinist College of Debrecen
Views:334The neolatin greeting poems of the 17th century professors of the Calvinist College of Debrecen. Contemporary occasional poems provide an excellent insight into the literacy of the early modern protestant intellectuals in Debrecen and the relationship between members: for example greetings, wedding greetings and mortal poems. In the 17th century prints connected to certain members of the intellectuals of Debrecen appeared with a nice number in Hungary and abroad, which were also welcomed by the professors of the Calvinist College in Debrecen. Collegial teachers volumes published in Hungary mostly by Hungarian, while polemical treatises printed abroad by Latin greetings accompanied. In my study I undertake to provide insight into the literacy and relationship system of the professors in Debrecen in the 17th century with detailed philological analysis of some neolatin greetings.
-
INSTITUTIONAL BOOM IN SOCIALIST HIGHER EDUCATION, OR A COLLEGE IN EVERY TOWN?
128-145Views:175The Hungarian Historical Society and its South-Transdanubian Group organised a conference, titled ’Chapters from the history of education in Hungary’ in Mohács, Hungary, between 13 and 15 August 2025. It was at this conference that a lecture was given on the foundation of colleges that reviewed the evolution and transformation of the institutional network until 1990, with some references to subsequent reorganisations.
No such lecture can provide a complete picture, consequently, it mainly focused on the major junctions relying on bibliographic data. Although the principal topic was the evolution of the college network, the changes affecting universities also had to be mentioned since, during the transformation, integration and foundation attempts, such universities gathered up the colleges eventually often transforming them into university faculties. The first part of the three-part study reviews the fundamental changes until Act III of 1961 on the education system of the Hungarian People’s Republic was enacted; the second part examines the motivations behind the quantitative growth of the institutional network, while the third part showcases the changes in West-Transdanubia through the expansion of the higher education institutions (university, teacher training college) in Pécs, with a particular focus on Zala County, where it was impossible to establish an independent higher education institution.
-
CONSTANT VALUES IN A CHANGING WORLD- 35 YEARS OF THE SÁNTHA KÁLMÁN FACULTY COLLEGE OF ADVANCED STUDIES
242-352Views:453Student organisations, clubs and associations are always a distinctive and often dominant feature of universities in Hungary and abroad. Their purpose, and sometimes their function, is to cater to students' needs and areas of professional activity not covered by regular education and/or not covered in an orthodox way. The structure of higher education in Hungary, and in particular medical education, is rigid, partly due to the rules of the discipline, with lectures, seminars and practicals organised within a strictly regulated framework, which many believe does not provide sufficient scope to fully meet the dynamically changing needs of students, and thus the latest professional trends and technologies, as well as societal issues. Furthermore, the pressures of a busy curriculum and lack of time often do not allow for immediate reflection, experience, and processing of the challenges of our rapidly changing world. The organizations promoting students’ participation in research and various student-initiated organizations serve to fill this apparent gap and to meet the needs of students and teachers. The most prominent of these, in our opinion, is the Sántha Kálmán Faculty College of Advanced Studies, which has existed at the University of Debrecen and its predecessors for 35 years in an ever-changing form, constantly reborn like a phoenix. In this reminiscence, we are summarising the history of the founding and activities of the Sántha Kálmán Faculty College of Advanced Studies, relying on our own memories and experiences, archived documents, and the detailed accounts of former and current members.
-
The ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND UNIVERSITY POLITICS BETWEEN THE TWO WORD WARS
104-122Views:289Although economics education has a history going back to the reign of Maria Theresia and despite the fact that its position has significantly strengthtened by the 20st centruty, the future of the subject has been a bone of contention ever since the 19th century. The majority supported the establishment of an independent University of Economics, however this was only partially materialized in 1920 with foundation of the partiallly independent Faculty of Economics. The faculty struggled with financial and placement-related issues, and the establishment became part of the József Nádor Technical and Economics University in 1934. This redesign involving a number of academic institutions (Technical University; Faculty of Economics; College of Veterinary; and College of Mining and Forestry) seemed to be succesful. Although the global economic recession resulted in the decrease of the number of students studying economics in the 1930s, from the 1940s on student enrollment figures started to sharply increase owing to the economic recovery following the world wars. The Hungarian University of Economics was only opened in 1948, but the nature of the institution changed following the communist takeover, not in line with its original purpose.
-
THE MEASURES TAKEN BY THE REFORMED COLLEGE IN DEBRECEN DURING THE CHOLERA EPIDEMICS OF 1831 AND 1866
57-70Views:282In Debrecen, the cholera epidemic of 1831 caused great devastation, killing almost 7.5% of the population. The cure for the epidemic was not yet known, so preventive measures (closures, quarantine) were taken to stop the spread of it. Already the news of the disease caused anxiety among professors, who sought to get the latest news from the city. For a long time, they resisted closing the school, but when the epidemic began to take its toll in the city at the end of July, they were forced to act. Many of the students had left the school early, but those who remained were looked after by the professors. As the epidemic situation worsened, the city even considered converting the college into a hospital, but this was eventually abandoned following protests from the professors and the college's curator. School order was finally restored only in the late autumn. The start of the school year was only briefly postponed during the local epidemic of 1866.
-
Jubileumi programok a 475 éves Debreceni Református Kollégium intézményeiben
198-205Views:241ANNIVERSARY PROGRAMS IN THE INSTITUTES OF THE 475-YEAR-OLD REFORMED COLLEGE OF DEBRECEN. he Reformed College of Debrecen celebrated its 475th anniversary in 2013. he College is a unique and interesting institute of Hungarian school system. It is a national historical site, where the reformed heritage of the 16th century, the values of Puritanism of the 17th century, and the intellectual efervescence of the 18th century are commemorated. Anational historical site where the victims of the freedom ight for our independence in 1848–49 are kept alive and where the College’s mission to foster talent even during the turbulent times of the 20th century is remembered. Today teaching activities are present on all levels of public and higher education from the kindergarten to the university.
-
Ferenc Balogh, the Supervisor Professor of the College Choir (Kántus) between 1880-1898
90-105Views:253Ferenc Balogh, the internationally renowned professor of church history served as the supervisor of the Male Choir (Kántus) of the Reformed College of Debrecen for nearly two decades in a period of crucial changes. He devoted his agile activity into two directions. He supported the permanent employment of first long-term conductor of the choir, Sándor Mácsai, and he founded the historical researches of the choir, also giving a historical perspective
to its identity. He accumulated the necessary financial support for the teacher-conductor’s position through his beautifully composed ceremonial speeches for which his students admired him. These speeches
also served as the referential points of confidence for the young singers. This essay analyses his speeches and presents the actions that followed the rhetorical masterpieces. -
A peregrináció forgandó: A kései peregrináció arányai és árnyai – a sárospataki példa
190-201Views:279Unpredictable Peregrinations. Rates and Figures of Late Peregrination at the Reformed College of Sárospatak. Between 1781 and 1857 two third of the professors and approximately half of the junior lecturers at the Reformed College of Sárospatak left for foreign universities and colleges. Instead of the Netherlands, by the 19th century the most preferred destinations of these 1–3-year-long study trips were more accessible German universities. It was the sign of a new era that the most renowned professors of the Reformed College were those who stayed away from these peregrinations and traditional ways, and many of whom became members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Interestingly, major curricular reforms and endeavours in the reform period may also be linked to such figures, including János Erdélyi, Sándor Kövy, István Nyíry and Antal Pálkövi. Comparing the life of the two professors with the longest and most successful peregrinations, we may come to completely contrasting results: while the great success of Pál Beregszászi Nagy’s peregrinations led to a rapid failure, Gábor Őri Fülep’s career took off after his long stay abroad.
-
Források és módszerek a Debreceni Református Kollégium diáknévsorainak feldolgozásához
39-44Views:216SOURCES AND METHODS FOR PROCESSING STUDENT LISTS OF THE DEBRECEN REFORMIST COLLEGE. In commemoration of the 475th anniversary of the existence of the Debrecen Reformist College a long expected, two volume resource guide was published in 2013 under the title „History sources of the institution int he archive of the Debrecen Reformist College.” It contains student lists between 1588 and 1850 cataloguing 20 000 registrations. his essay summarizes the history of this research and lists the sources used in the process.
-
UNKNOWN FRAGMENTS ON THE HISTORY AND PEREGRINATION PRACTICES OF THE UNITARIAN COLLEGE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
131-157Views:246The Unitarian College of Cluj (Kolozsvár), the sole Antitrinitarian institution to sponsor students’ peregrination, saw a significant setback in the early 1660s (due to a combination of fire damage, the bubonic plague, and an erosion of discipline). As a result, Unitarian peregrination temporarily “showed a tendency of decline”. From the 1670s, however, Unitarian students were again regularly sent to study abroad at the expense of the parish of Cluj, but before they left, the peregrines had to issue a pledge, a so-called promissory note (reversalis, obligatoria), to the ecclesia, pledging faithfulness and obedience, primarily; a practice also known in other denominations. These notes are usually – and correctly – regarded as formulaic in nature, but they contain the occasional interesting detail, such as the amount of the “scholarship” granted, the duration of enrolment and the required languages to be learned by the sponsored student. This study offers a systematic overview of these details.
-
ARCHIVAL SOURCES OF THE SAD PERIOD OF THE COLLEGE OF EPERJES
177-198Views:298The famous and historic College of Eperjes during the First World War included a high school, theology, a law academy and a teacher training-school. For an institution that suffered the hardships of the First World War, the collapse of the Kingdom of Hungary was also a coup de grace. After a series of hardships, the representatives of the new power no longer welcomed this ancient institution of the city. I would like to present now a brief selection of archival sources from this sad period.
-
THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION
111-127Views:179The College of Physical Education was established at the end of 1925, thanks to the support of Minister Kuno Count Klebelsberg as the further development of the course of the National Gymnastics Association, which had started in 1868. At that time, it was placed in the building of the Civil School Teacher Training College (Paedagogium) on Győri Street in Buda, where it still operates today, with gradual expansions. Thanks to its excellent teaching staff, the new institution quickly rose to international status. Although the years of war and the communist dictatorship set back its development, it was elevated to university status in 1975, and then slowly regained its international reputation. In 2000, during the reorganization of higher education, it temporarily lost its independence, which it regained in 2014. Soon, the largest development in its history began, which is now nearing its end.
-
Debreceni Református Kollégium teológiai oktatásának története 1850–1912. A Teológiai Akadémia a Kollégium oktatási rendszerében
30-51Views:327The History of Theological Education at Debrecen Reformed College between 1850 and 1912. The changes in the educational system of Theology at Reformed College of Debrecen were heavily influenced by the political-social events of historic Hungary between 1850 and 1912. The first date signals the introduction of arbitrary rule of the Habsburg monarch who suppressed the Hungarians during the War of Independence in 1848-49. The closing date is the emergence of a new state run university in Debrecen. The study throws light on how the Organisations Entwurf tried to modernize as well as Germanize the education system in the Habsburg Empire. As a result, the traditional education structure at the College was entirely restructured. It brought about the disintegration of humanity and art faculty into a grammar school thereby only the law and theological faculties were left intact for a while. The Reformed Church District strongly protested against the dismantling its more than 300 years old education system. It is the irony of history what the oppressing Austrian could not achieve, it was realized after the Compromise by József Eötvös, the Hungarian minister of culture, religion and education. Needless to say that education at all levels needed to be modernized and standardized. It is clear that it had a positive impact on the curricula of Reformed theological education in the long run. The paper introduces briefly the life of theological professors, their career with a view to their studies abroad and finally their works at various departments of theology.
-
THOUGHTS ON THE BEGINNINGS, ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF THEIR IRON DIPLOMA
234-240Views:151The Georgikon, founded in 1797 in Keszthely by the Festetics family, the agricultural college established in 1818 in Mosonmagyaróvár by Prince Albert Casimir of Saxony-Teschen, and later the one founded in 1868 in Pallag by the city of Debrecen, all played a significant role in advancing Hungarian agriculture throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. These academies were shut down in 1948–1949, following the land reform of 1945. However, with the reorganization of socialist agriculture and the push for collectivization, it became necessary to restart agricultural education. This led to Presidential Council Decree No. 9 in 1953, which authorized the reestablishment of regional agricultural academies. The process was swift, and the academy in Debrecen was the first to reopen − ironically turning the last into the first. Acting on the instructions of then-Minister of Agriculture Ferenc Erdei, a committee was set up to determine whether the half-finished agricultural secondary school in Pallag − damaged during the war − or the one on Böszörményi Road would be more suitable for reopening the academy. In hindsight, the committee’s decision to choose the Böszörményi Road location proved wise, as it offered vast development potential. This potential was successfully realized by István Bencsik, who − based on Decree No. 35 − oversaw the transformation of the institution into a university-level college. Thanks to prioritized government investment, the new institution became a true jewel of Hungarian agricultural education.
-
A szegedi Polgári Iskolai Tanárképző Főiskola és a Ferenc József Tudományegyetem együttműködése a tanárképzés szolgálatában (1928–1947)
51 - 65Views:357The Cooperative Framework between the National Civic School Teacher Training College and the Ferenc József University in the Service of Teacher Training (1928–1947). In my study I demonstrate the creative process of the cooperative framework between two institutions of high education in Szeged, the National Civic School Teacher Training College and the Ferenc József University from the very first school year in Szeged in 1928 until the last one in 1947, that is, until a dispute that ended their cooperation. The discussion was aimed at the rate of role of the two institutions in civic school teacher training. My goal is to review the historical background and the method of research and then give answers to the following questions: what stages did the coming about of the cooperation go through? What effect did this collaboration have on the everyday life of the students? How is the dispute about the creation of the framework presented in the most important organ of civic school teachers, Polgári Iskolai Tanáregyesületi Közlöny (Civic School Teachers Association Gazette)?
-
Krakkótól Wittenbergig Magyarországi hallgatók a krakkói, bécsi és wittenbergi egyetemeken a 16. században
23-50Views:300From Krakow to Wittenberg. Students from the Hungarian Kingdom at the Universities of Krakow, Vienna and Wittenberg in the 16th Century. This paper aims at collecting the students from the Hungarian Kingdom at the universities of Krakow, Vienna and Wittenberg in the 16th century. According to the medieval traditions, the majority of the students attended the university of Vienna and Krakow (90%) in the first quarter of the 16th century. After the battle of Mohács (1526), the situation changed
basically, and in the second period up to 1550, the University of Wittenberg started to rise, however, the total number of the peregrinating students decreased significantly. After 1550 the peregrination from the Hungarian Kingdom started to increase, however, its magnitude reached the level of the beginning of the 16th century again only in the 17th century. The heyday of the University of Wittenberg dates back to the second part of the 16th century, when the university of Krakow was hardly attended by any students of the Hungarian Kingdom. Whereas the universities of Vienna and Krakow attracted the students originated from the institutions’ neighbourhood, the university of Wittenberg was attended by the Saxons and it was also popular with the burghers of Debrecen. All the three universities had an organization for the students who came from the Hungarian Kingdom. However, the one of Vienna (Natio Hungarica) was not a national college in its modern sense; the one of Krakow (Bursa Hungarorum) was considereda national community in the first half of the 20th century. On the other hand, it seems more acceptable, that those students were its members, who originated far from Krakow. The college of Wittenberg (Coetus Ungaricus) was considered a national community, but its students must have chosen it because of their religious convictions, since many of them were engaged in the new ideas of the Reformation. Meanwhile, the most-known reformers from the 16th century attended these three universities, mainly Wittenberg. Both the first Hungarian Calvinist bishop, Márton Sánta Kálmáncsehi (Krakow 1523) and ‘the Hungarian Luther’, Mátyás Bíró Dévai (Krakow 1523, Wittenberg, 1528), moreover Ferenc Dávid (Wittenberg 1545), the founder and the first bishop of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania appeared at these universities. -
REFORMED COLLEGE OF SÁROSPATAK (Áron Kovács, Éva Kusnyír)
158-159Views:257Book review by Ádám Hegyi
-
THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DEBRECEN 2000–2025.: THE FIRST RECTOR'S TERM JANUARY 1st 2000 – JULY 31st 2001
180-227Views:227A new era of higher education in Debrecen began in 2000 – decades after the 1912 founded state university was split into several institutions in 1950 – the Debrecen University was established from four independent institutions, offering the broadest range of study programs in the country with five university faculties, three college faculties, nine institutes and three associated institutions. This study reviews the preliminary steps which had been taken to prepare for the institutional integration within the framework of the Debrecen Universitas Association and the Debrecen University Association, describes the circumstances surrounded the failure of the direct integration of church institutions, and details the events connected to the launch of the new university, also presenting the recollections of those involved in the university leadership at the time. The success of the Debrecen University integration was based on its special characteristics, such as broad-based leadership, close cooperation of rectors elected for a short period from different fields of science, highly decentralized management, the establishment of the Medical and Health Sciences Center and the Agricultural Sciences Center – which combined high-level clinical work and agricultural activities, respectively, with the function of related faculties –, and an infrastructural investment program that enabled advances in the majority of educational areas and focused on support of scientific research. Based on the structural decisions, internal integration processes were launched for consolidated operation of informatics, the libraries and language departments, and in the activities of specialty coordination centers, to facilitate cooperation in educational programs and research work. A constructive and harmonious relationship had been developed with the newly formed university-level students’ union and, within the framework of a collective agreement with the institution's employees. The cooperation agreement with the city of Debrecen, the interconnection with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and participation in the founding of the European University Association were of decisive importance in the university's external relations. The joint works in developing the identity of the University of Debrecen, the creation of symbols and brand images linked to the historical Debrecen Reformed College resulted in trust-based cooperation and breaking down of barriers between the integrating communities of scholars, researchers, students, and employees.
