From the 1930’s onwards Gödöllő was the centre of falconry, where a state falconry estate was run by Géza Nemeskéri Kiss and Lajos Kálóczy.
In order that the most efficient training techniques could be taught, Biddalph, an English retired colonel as well as three Pakistani falconers, Nadír, Kadír and Nurr Mohamed lived in Hungary for almost a year.
The hunting birds were obtained from nests, while in autumn in the Hortobágy region they caught migrating falcons with special techniques learned from Indian falconers. Only the hen birds were kept, the cocks and the old birds were released.
Initially, it was not that easy to obtain falcons. Sándor Sziráczky wrote a letter to Lajos Kálóczy on 5th February 1932, offering him his well-kept 12-gauge, six-shooter Winchester from 1897 in return for a single falcon.
According to contemporaneous records several Hungarian and foreign professional hunters got acquainted with this ancient way of hunting in Gödöllő. Some falcons were trained specifically for the guests. Nemeskéri and Kálóczy were involved in extensive correspondence with one another and they also had connections with several falconers abroad.
Lóránt Bástyai and László Fába, who started falconry these days, were regular guests at the estate. After a few years the Újvári brothers joined them as well (Lóránt Bástyai has devoted a number of publications on falconry to this era).
Due to the publicity this way of hunting was given, more and more people got interested in falconry and contacted Mr. Nemeskéri, who directed the beginner falconers to Bástyai, who was an experienced and conscientious falconer. Lóránt enthusiastically corresponded with other professional falconers and organized hunting events.
Even the organization of an international falconers’ meeting was being considered, primarily with the attendance of English and German falconers, however, the beginning of the wartime era thwarted the realization of the initiative.
Having hunted together once in Gödöllő, they decided to implement Lóránt’s suggestion and launch a Falconry Association following foreign examples.
They presented their plans to Mr. Nemeskéri, who offered to have a share in the management of the association in addition to supporting it in principle. The majority of the arrangements, however, were made by Bástyai and his circle of friends.
The Hungarian Association of Falconry held its founding assembly in Budapest, in the lecture hall of Zoology at the Hungarian Natural History Museum. Géza Nemeskéri Kiss, the royal Hunter in Chief was elected President, Herbert Nádler was appointed Deputy President, Dr. László Tóth and Gyula Fábián were elected secretaries, the position of chief falconer was assigned to Lóránt Bástyai, while László Katona was appointed treasurer.
Nemeskéri was considered influential in hunting circles, his professional expertise was highly acknowledged and he regarded the popularization of falconry as his personal mission. When it was necessary, he did get involved in heated debates with the opponents of falconry in the “Nimród“ periodical. The badge of the association was made, meetings and lectures were organized.
Although the first hunting event of the association was to take place in Sándor Sziráczky’s estate in Kondoros, eventually it was held in Gödöllő. The secretariat was initially situated in the Baross Street museum, later, however, the headquarters was relocated to the flat of the Újváry family in Hársfa Street, where the whole family had a share in the work.
From this time onwards, a number of articles on falconry were published in the “Nimród“ periodical, what is more, owing to the initiative of Kálmán Kittenberger editor-in-chief a separate falconry section was launched. After the war the founding and operation of associations were strictly regulated by authoritative orders. In order that the association could operate legally onwards, the Hungarian Falconers’ Hunting Society was founded in Fegyvernek in 1946. Lóránt Bástyai was elected president, while György Lelovich was appointed chief falconer. A covered head of a falcon was chosen to be included in their coat of arms, and it appeared on their seal as well, although they used the original coat of arms of the Hungarian Association of Falconry with the acronym for the Hungarian Falconers’ Hunting Society. These days an experimentation estate for predatory birds was running in Fegyvernek, affiliated with the Centre of Hungarian National Forestry Plants. It was in 1947 when Lóránt Bástyai’s first publication, a mimeographic one, was released, entitled A vágómadarak idomítása (The Training of Predatory Birds), which was study material for beginner falconers. The hunting society, however, did not meet the initial expectations. The members residing in different regions of the country seldom had the opportunity to visit areas suitable for falconry hunting, it was mostly the obsessed falconers in Budapest who went to Fegyvernek.
Lajos Rohony with an Altai Saker cock, Lóránt Bástyai with a migrating falcon hen
Photo taken by Ödön Pál
The experimentation estate was soon relocated to Gödöllő, where it was affiliated with the Institute of Forestry and ran prosperously with the leadership of Bástyai until the spring of 1953. The hunting society ceased to exist, but due to Bástyai a Falconry Division was founded within the National Association of Hungarian Hunters in the spring of 1951. They suggested that hunting birds should be centrally obtained and redistributed. This initiative primarily applied to migrating falcons, the population of which remarkably shrank for some unknown reason. Most of the administrative work was done by Tokai Barna, an enthusiastic young secretary. György Lelovich’s mimeographic work, A solymászat kézikönyve (A Reference Book on Falconry) was published in 1952, which can be regarded as the first major achievement.
The development of Hungarian falconry was enhanced by the fact that the experienced falconers were allowed to work officially for particular state farming estates between 1953 and 1957 in order to prevent the further destruction of fishponds and fish population made by waders. Lóránt Bástyai got employment at the State Falming Estate of Bánhalma. In the meantime Barna Tokai passed away in tragic circumstances and although the division did not cease to operate, its activity relapsed remarkably. Renowned falconers of this era were, for instance, Aradvári, Böheim, Fába, Festetisch, Finta, Kálóczy, Komjáthy, Lelovichy, Mendgyán, Nemeskéri, Nefély, Patay, Puskás, Rohony, Schleicher, Szabó, Szalay, Sziráczky, Szigethy,Szekeres, Székelyhídi, Tusnádi, Újváry, Virág and Wrabel. .
The majority of the members lived in Budapest, and most falconry activities took place by the airport at Hármashegy or by the border territories of Pest, which were much smaller that time.
Having been appointed the director of the Fowl Department of the Budapest Zoo, Bástyai was able to devote more time to administration. He had good connections with renowned hunting and fowling experts. His first book entitled Vadmadárból-vadászmadár (From Wild Fowl Into Hunting Bird), published in 1955, was a milestone in Bástyai’s career and it was primarily written for beginner falconers. Within the National Association of Hungarian Hunters a second founding assembly was held in 1956 to support the ongoing maintenance of the division, and it was attended by some young falconers as well, including József Galambos and Ferenc Káló, who are active falconers even nowadays. István Borbély had a major share in the administration work of the division, while Lóránt Bástyai was the president and József Finta worked as the chief falconer. Bástyai having moved to his mother in England, the division relapsed into inactivity, not having anyone who would have taken over the administration. At the same time the public attitude to falconry had changed for the worse, which was exacerbated by the fact that the Hungarian population of migrating falcons (as well as the whole European population) continued to decrease and it was falconry that was blamed for this negative tendency. Some attempts were made to dissolve falconry in Hungary. Some articles were published arguing that this ancient way of hunting had no place in the modern Socialist way of game management. These days opportunities were provided to launch clubs and study circles in youth organizations. Implementing József Galambos’s initiative, the Ottó Herman Falconry Club was founded within the institution of the Cultural Centre of Vác, followed by the László Magyar Falconry Club with the leadership of Antal Mosányi within the Youth Organization of Kiskunfélegyháza in 1963. Due to the arrangements made by the members of the aforementioned two clubs, the first international falconers’ meeting took place in Hungary in the autumn of 1963, and it turned out to be a great success. Later, several members participated in the international meeting held in Austria. Still in this year György Lelovich and Ferenc Káló held a falconry show at the International Husbandry Exhibition in Copenhagen. The Falconry Club of Vác was dissolved in 1964, but still in the same year a falconry division was suggested to be launched within the National Association of Hungarian Hunters. It was Emil Váradi and Ödön Pál who had a major share in organizing it, while Miklós Janisch was asked to be the president of the association.
The successful founding assembly was not able to prevent the ongoing decline of falconry, since this association did not get involved in falconry activities in practice. This was the year when the last hatching of the migrating falcon was registered in the Bükk Mountains, and the Altai Saker population was threatened by extinction as well, which generated even more opposition to falconry. According to the report made in Strasburg in 1973 by the European Environmental Protection Council, it was the introduction of particular enduring synthetic pesticides, especially DDT, that was responsible for the unprecedented decrease in the falcon population all over the world, and thus in Europe as well. Other pesticides caused acute mortality, while the effect of DDT was unsuccessful reproduction in the long run. The destruction made by humans is also mentioned, which is likely to have been considerable in the small Hungarian falcon population (removing new-born birds and eggs from nests, etc). The border range of the Northern European population was in Hungary, which might have been the reason for the disappearance of the migrating falcons as a hatching species in Hungary, since it was in these periphery territories where the negative effects caused the greatest destruction to the hatching areas. Meeting the demands of environment protectionists, it was in Hungary where the usage of DDT was banned first in the whole world in 1968, after a considerable fish population was destroyed in Lake Balaton.
The previous leaders of the Falconry Club of Vác launched the Hungaria Falconry Club in 1965. The headquarters was situated in Leányfalu, and it was led by Galambos József as president. Its purpose was to maintain falconry activities in Hungary, nevertheless, they never started to operate. It was due to their negotiations with authorities, however, that the Falconry Division of the National Association of Hungarian Hunters was allowed to be founded.
Dr. Győző Tusnádi was elected president, while Antal Mosányi, József Galambos, Géza Vancsó, Péter Dékány and Emil Váradi took a major part in the administration. According to their founding statutes, it was only professional hunters and members of the National Association of Hungarian Hunters with a valid permit to bear firearms who could gain membership in the division. If the gun of a member was confiscated, it automatically meant that he was expelled from the division. For the purpose of falconry only buzzards were allowed to be kept, falcons and other predatory birds could neither be obtained domestically, nor imported. Members without a firearm permit were not allowed to be taken to hunting activities or to hunting territories, either. Due to the strict regulations the division had only 14 members, despite the fact that initially 43 prospective falconers applied for admission. Consequently, falconry was pursued partly illegally, the members of the division kept buzzards, while those not affiliated with the organization kept falcons as well.
In 1971 the name ”Division of Predatory Bird Protection and Falconry” was adopted, and from this time Frigyes Bogyai and Gábor Duhay were primarily involved in the administration of the association. When the Hungarian Ornithological Association was being organized in 1973, the possibility arose that the Division of Falconry should be affiliated with the HOA. Concerning this initiative, the following resolution was made by the National Syndicate of National Association of Hungarian Hunters on 20th January 1973: ”it is approved that the division should be dissolved as one of the organizations of the association, provided that the Hungarian Environmental Agency is willing to take it over. If it is not willing to do so, however, the division will continue to operate within the institution of the National Association of Hungarian Hunters”. Later on, the division was affiliated with the Hungarian Ornithological Association, what is more the National Association of Hungarian Hunters entered into the association as a legal entity. First, species recognition and falconry trainings were organized, at the end of which beginner falconers and fowlers both had to take exams. The operation of the division was partly abandoned in 1975, arguing that birds had been obtained illegally.
In the meantime István Bechtold and József Berkesi represented the realignment council, they were the ones to be in charge of the official administration this time.
A major change was generated in the division by the fact that at their Founding Assembly held in 1976 István Bechtold was elected president, and slightly later Gábor Duhay was appointed secretary. It was primarily due to their considerate administrative work that a recovery took place in the life of the division, their leadership is characterized by a successful cooperation with authorities as well.
From this time onwards, the division operated under the name of ”Falconry Division of the Hungarian Ornithological Association”. Árpád Ambrózy and Lajos Dobner had a major share in the management as well, what is more, most members participated actively in the life of the organization.
The division possessed hunting and fowling territories, which had been gained with the help of the previous presidency of the Hungarian Ornithological Association, especially György Kállay and László Haraszthy. Their leadership skills were proven for twenty years by legal hunting opportunities and a series of international falconers´ meetings.
A major change took place in the division when the import of falcons with a proven source of breeding was authorized in 1989. Realizing József Galambos´s initiative, the management of the division refounded the Hungarian Association of Falconry with 82 founders on 29th June 1996, putting an end to a prolonged dispute.
During the past decades, Hungarian falconry has been reorganized several times so that it can operate successfully and meet the demands of the changing world, while generations of falconers have abandoned the field.
Their activities can be evaluated only in the context of their own era, since they also made all possible efforts so that falconry could revive. Due to these efforts falconry has remained a legally acknowledged way of hunting.
Currently, the Hungarian Association of Falconry has 170 members, 78 nominees, 13 supporting members, 2 hereditary members and 5 honorary members.
Finally, I would love to express my gratitude to those who helped me write my article.
I owe special gratitude to:
József Berkesi, György Beregszászi, Frigyes Bogyai, István Borbély, József Böheim, Péter Dékány, Gergely Farkas, József Galambos, Dr. Lajos Hauer, Dr. Gábor Kölüs, György Kálóczy, Levente Komjáthy, György Lelovich, Miklós Mészöly, Miklós Nemeskéri Kiss, Gergely Novotni, László Patay, Ödön Pál, László Puskás, Erzsébet Radnóti, György Simon, István Sterbec, János Szekeres, Attila Székely, Péter Udvardi, Endre Újváry, Emil Váradi, Árpád Virág, furthermore to the Aradvári, Szigethy, Fába, Finta, Kodó, Mengyán, Schleicher and Tusnádiés families.
Dear Readers,
Although I have aimed at historical faithfulness and objectivity in my article, I am convinced that some people assign different significance to certain events than I do. It is likely that there are some events I have not managed to find records of, and people I have not mentioned. Hereby, I need to apologize to them. In case you have any comments, or if you are able to provide more recent data, please contact me so that the history of our association can be recoded even more genuinely.
Dunakeszi, 22nd January 2004.
The Hungarian Association of Falconry was founded to support the pursue of falconry activities in Hungary.
The goals and circle of activities are laid down in the founding articles issued by the members of the association. The primary decision-making body is the general assembly, which holds meetings twice a year and governs the association by passing resolutions. The presidency is responsible for the implementation of the resolutions and for the pursue of activities of the association.
Photo taken by Domingo Garcia Llanos
The most outstanding professional event for falconers is the annually held International Falconers’ Meeting. This is the event for which all Hungarian falconers gather together and it also provides an opportunity for international falconers to get to know Hungarian falconry and further falconry possibilities. The International Falconers’ Meeting organized by the Hungarian Association of Falconry is acknowledged and highly appreciated in the international arena as well.
The association holds falconry activities 10-12 times a year in different regions of the country.
The management of the association sends newsletters to the members to inform them about the upcoming events, achievements and tasks. The professional periodical of the association is called “Magyar Solymász” (Hungarian Falconer), which includes articles written by the members of the association as well as international and domestic studies on falconry compiled by the board of editors.
The Hungarian Association of Falconry aims at raising the standard of professional falconry, consequently it issues publications to popularize falconry.
One of the most important tasks of the association is the protection of falconry and registered falconers in hunting and environmental issues. The Hungarian Association of Falconry helps its members acquire hunting fowls from their natural habitats and also coordinates the breeding of predatory birds for the purpose of falconry.
The Hungarian Association of Falconry has membership in the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds Of Prey (IAF) and also in the Predatory Bird Section of C.I.C. The members of the association actively participate in the protection of domestic predatory birds. We support and encourage research on falconry, which is an inherent part in Hungarian cultural history, as well as supporting falconry handicraft and the display of related artistic works.
We provide beginner falconers and anyone interested with resource and documentary material, so that they can be acquainted with falconry more easily.
Photo taken by Domingo Garcia Llanos
The recruitment system of the association guarantees that only professionally well-prepared falconers with a strong commitment for environmental protection can gain membership in the Hungarian Association of Falconry.
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