Early Adulthood

After the continuous warfare, the region entered an age of moderate prosperity although, in the beginning, it enjoyed limited influence in the Viennese court and its population had been reduced considerably. Ten years after the liberation, the city of Pest consisted of just 126 houses.

Between 1720 & 1790 due to the intensive colonization propelled by the Habsburgs, Hungary’s depopulated regions increased significantly and especially the city of Buda which was almost completely deserted by the end of the Ottoman occupation boomed with populations that came mostly from the southern parts of Germany but also by Austrians, Spaniards, Bavarians, Serbs, Croats, French, and Turks who had remained in the country after the end of the war. Both cities gained their rights after two decades of fighting hard for their reconstruction. Although Buda was the capital in the name after 1703, the city was far from fulfilling this role.

The civilian residents of the free royal city were owners of real estate — mostly townhouses — and engaged in some kind of handicraft or trade. Their leaders — the mayor, the judge, the chief captain — were elected. The city council took care of the important things of citizens and non-citizens. The tax was paid once a year, a payment that secured their rights, and envoys of the city were sent to the parliament.

The title of the first mayor of Buda (Imperial Captain), András Prenner Farkas, indicated that the city was still under the direct military control of the Emperor and the Imperial court. After the approval of the court, the mayor could hold office but not govern at will. The affairs of Pest were handled by a judge for more than eighty years. In addition to the council, the management of the city is managed by a small electoral body. However, the power of the city administration extended not only to the settlement within the city walls but also to the ever-expanding, developing suburbs.