Tomb of Prince Imre Thököly

The ashes of Imre Thököly in Budapest ; ; The “King Kuruc” in 1699, and Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II twelve years later, in 1711, bid farewell to his homeland. The great dead of Nicomedia (1705) and Rodostó (1735) in Asia Minor rested in foreign, Turkish soil during the long centuries of historical storms. At the initiative of Kálmán Thaly and his enthusiastic companions, and then at the suggestion of Prime Minister Sándor Wekerle, Franz Joseph I granted amnesty in 1904 to the exiles sentenced to eternal statelessness by the law of 1715. Their ceremonial return home, their funeral in Budapest, and then their final farewell – in Košice and Késmárk – took place a hundred years ago, in 1906. ; ; In Constantinople – today's Istanbul – in the autumn of 1906, seven coffins were ceremoniously placed on a ship, then on a special train in Konstanz: the ashes of Ferenc II. Rákóczi and his son, József, Miklós Bercsényi, Antal Esterházy, Miklós Sibrik, Imre Thököly and Ilona Zrínyi were sent home. ; ; According to Article XX of the 1906 Act, the great Lutheran prince was also allowed to return home. The leaders of our church waited for the ashes at the Orsova border. Bishop Gusztáv Scholtz of the Mining District, accompanied by the district superintendent Mihály Zsilinszky, Frigyes Dianiska of Keszmárk and Ede Francz of Orsova, gave the blessing: “The great son of our nation has returned home to the land of the fatherland, by which he once stood steadfastly in good and bad times. He has not returned home as a passing visitor, not as a celebratory guest, but has returned home, as a boy returns to his sweet home from a faraway place. He has returned home permanently, and will remain here among us, so that where his cradle once rocked, he may also descend into his grave, over whose holy repose the mercy of his own nation, not of a foreign nation, but of a king, may watch over it until the end of time. Our souls bow before the altar of his memory. Gratitude and mercy to our great king, for he has given us back our ancestors. Let us all unite in fervent prayer to the King and the Father of nations, the good To God. Now may the Lord bless and keep you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and give you peace. Amen!” ; ; The scene that followed was a beautiful ecumenical gesture: the Evangelical Kossuth Ferenc laid a wreath on the coffin of Rákóczi, and the Catholic Albert Apponyi laid a wreath on the coffin of Thököly, accompanied by words of appreciation. ; ; On Sunday, October 28, at half past eight in the morning, the detachment arrived at the Keleti Railway Station. The Vörösmarty Speech rang out on the lips of the welcoming committee. On behalf of our church, Baron Dezső Prónay, the universal ecclesiastical and school supervisor, and a large delegation of our lay and pastoral staff led by Bishops Gusztáv Scholtz, Ferenc Gyurátz, Frigyes Baltik and Pál Zelenka were present. ; ; II. The funeral carriages of Ferenc Rákóczi and his entourage, as well as Imre Thököly, laden with wreaths and accompanied by a procession, were bid farewell by crowds on the route leading to Deák Square and the basilica. ; ; When Thököly's funeral carriage separated from the procession, the copper-plated coffin containing the ashes was carried on its shoulders by four church dignitaries wearing Hungarian decorations: Jenõ Zsigmondy, Géza Wagner, Lajos Wagner and Frigyes Glück, and placed on the royal bier built in front of the altar between a procession of priests. ; ; The funeral service, which began at 12 o'clock, began with Luther's triumphal hymn and ended with the "song of the Hungarian galley slaves" and then with our national anthem. The celebratory speech was delivered here again by Bishop Gusztáv Scholtz, who, among other things, praised the memory of the great prince with these words: "Thököly did not die. Thököly lives! The betrayal combined with violence could have paralyzed the hero prematurely, but the flag of freedom that fell from the leader's tired hand was seized by a stronger, younger arm before it could fall to dust. You fell silent, blessed prince, in Izmit, in your flower-bedecked resting place, just as your great successor fell silent in Rodosto. But the idea for which you lived, fought, suffered and died, the eternal idea of the freedom of our dear homeland, could not die, rising from your graves and demanding its right to exist in the struggle of centuries ever since!" ; ; The funeral service at Deák Square was attended by both Catholic and Reformed participants, including Roman Catholic Bishop Vilmos Fraknói and Reformed Bishop Sándor Baksay. ; ; After the service, national representatives stood guard every hour until 4 p.m. next to Thököly's coffin. Among the sea of wreaths - according to contemporary records - there were wreaths from the Hungarian Church of Pest, the congregations of Rákoskeresztúr, Bakonyszombathely, Józsefváros and - in honor of Ilona Zrínyi - the National Women's Training Association. ; ; After the funeral service, members of the Bethlen Gábor Circle in full dress carried Thököly's sarcophagus on their shoulders to the hearse, which was then escorted by an incredible crowd to the railway station. ; ; The prince's last wish was to have his final resting place in his homeland, in a church in a "key Lutheran city". Indeed, the former Uplands was his narrower homeland, Késmárk was his hometown. There, his ashes were received with just as much splendor as in our capital. However, he could hardly have imagined that the prayers of the Hungarian church service and the sound of Hungarian songs over his grave would only remind him of his burning Hungarian patriotism on very exceptional occasions! ; ; Dr. Tibor Fabiny ; ; The mausoleum of Prince Imre Thököly, with the prince's mantle and flags, is in the new Lutheran church. The original tombstone brought here from Nicodemus was also placed on the wall of the mausoleum.