Hungarian Tourist Association

The Magyar Turista Egyesület (MTE), or Hungarian Tourist Association, is one of Hungary's oldest organised hiking and nature-tourism bodies. Its roots reach back to the late 19th century, when tourism in the Kingdom of Hungary was expanding rapidly. According to its own website, the association's history is written from 1888, and its aims have remained unchanged since its re-establishment in 1989. The MTE organises and supports every form of nature walking, collects and preserves the memories of the hiking movement, and maintains the tourist trails of the Pilis-Visegrád hills. Its mountain huts are open to everyone. The association's institutional origin is usually dated to 1891, when a group of 152 former members of the Hungarian Carpathian Association (Uherský karpatský spolek, founded in 1873 in Kežmarok) broke away and founded the Magyar Turista Egyesület in Budapest. The new organisation was more socially open than its predecessor, admitting not only members of the Hungarian upper and middle classes but also nature lovers and hikers from lower social strata who had been excluded from the older club. Membership grew quickly: 2,663 members in 1892 and 2,889 in 1895, making it the second-largest such organisation in the country. Its first president was Count Loránd Eötvös, with Edmund Téry as executive vice-president. The MTE developed its activities in the Mátra mountains, in the High Tatras and in other ranges. Its Tatra group, through Edmund Téry, was instrumental in building the new Téry Hut in the Malá Studená dolina valley, opened on 21 August 1899. Téry himself led the association between 1907 and 1910. In 1909 the Budapest University Tourist Association (Budapesti egyetemi turista egyesület, Bete) was founded, and both organisations specialised in high-mountain tourism and climbing in the High Tatras. The Second World War severely curtailed the association's work, and in 1946 the organisation was dissolved. After the political changes of 1989 it was re-established, and it continues to operate as a voluntary hiking association. Today the MTE presents itself as a guardian of Hungary's hiking heritage, maintaining trails and huts and welcoming members and visitors to the open air.

The Magyar Turista Egyesület emerged from a split within the Hungarian Carpathian Association (Uherský karpatský spolek, UKS), which had been founded on 10 August 1873 in Kežmarok in the Spiš region, home largely to Spiš Germans. The Košice–Bohumín railway, completed two years earlier, had enabled a rapid rise in tourism in the High Tatras. The UKS founders modelled their club on Western European, especially Alpine, examples, combining mountain sport, knowledge of nature and history, and voluntary work in training young tourists and climbers and building trails and huts. Its membership was an educated, mostly German- and Hungarian-speaking sub-Tatra minority that was reluctant to admit people from lower social classes and Slovaks. By the end of the 19th century Spiš Germans dominated its leadership, which displeased some academically educated Hungarian members. These ideological and personal conflicts caused a schism at the end of the 19th century and led to the founding of a new association in Budapest in 1891 under the name Magyar Turista Egyesület. It was joined by 152 former UKS members. The new association attracted not only members of the Hungarian upper and middle classes but also nature lovers and hikers from lower social strata who had no access to the UKS. Membership grew rapidly: 2,663 in 1892 and 2,889 in 1895. The new organisation soon became the second largest in the country. Its first president was Count Loránd Eötvös and its executive vice-president was Edmund Téry. Some UKS groups joined the new organisation, for example the Košice–Abov–Turňa group. The MTE developed its activities in Hungary, in the Mátra mountains, in the High Tatras and in other ranges. Members of the Košice–Abov–Turňa group, for instance, built trails from Košice via Bankov to Jahodná in 1896 and undertook many other projects. The association's Tatra group, through Edmund Téry, was instrumental in building the new Téry Hut in the Malá Studená dolina valley, opened on 21 August 1899. Edmund Téry was the association's leading figure between 1907 and 1910. In 1909 the Budapest University Tourist Association (Budapesti egyetemi turista egyesület, Bete) was founded; both new organisations began to specialise in high-mountain tourism and climbing in the High Tatras and wanted to cooperate with the UKS. The Second World War significantly curtailed the association's work, and in 1946 the organisation was dissolved. According to its own website, the association's history is written from 1888 and its efforts have been unchanged since its re-establishment in 1989. In its present form the MTE organises and supports all forms of nature walking, collects and preserves the memories of the hiking movement, maintains the tourist trails of the Pilis-Visegrád hills, and keeps its mountain huts open to everyone.

• 1989

  The association is re-established; its aims remain unchanged.

• 1946

  The organisation is dissolved after the Second World War.

• 1909

  Budapest University Tourist Association (Bete) founded; both organisations specialise in High Tatra high-mountain tourism and climbing.

• 1907

  Edmund Téry becomes the association's leading figure (until 1910).

• 1899

  The Téry Hut in the Malá Studená dolina valley, promoted by Edmund Téry, opens on 21 August.

• 1896

  The Košice–Abov–Turňa group builds trails from Košice via Bankov to Jahodná.

• 1895

  Membership reaches 2,889; the association is the second largest in the country.

• 1892

  Membership reaches 2,663.

• 1891

  Magyar Turista Egyesület founded in Budapest by 152 former UKS members; Count Loránd Eötvös becomes first president and Edmund Téry executive vice-president.

• 1888

  According to the MTE website, the association's history is written from this year.

• 1873

  Hungarian Carpathian Association (UKS) founded in Kežmarok, the predecessor from which the MTE later split.

A historic, volunteer-based Hungarian hiking association focused on nature tourism, trail care and mountain huts.

• Pilis-Visegrád hills trail network

  Tourist trails maintained by the MTE in the Pilis-Visegrád hills.

• MTE mountain huts

  Mountain huts open to everyone.

• Organised nature walks

  The association organises and supports all forms of nature walking.

1. 1Magyar Turista Egyesület – MTE – 1888 ótamagyarturistaegyesulet.hu
2. 2Maďarský turistický spolekcs.wikipedia.org
3. 3Wikidata Q1162270wikidata.org