Sopron is the name of a town in Hungary. It is also the name of a historical county or comitatus in Hungary, see Sopron county .

The Town of Sopron

Sopron (pronounced "show-PRON") historically also known by the German name Ödenburg, had a population of about 50,000 in early 1990s.

Sopron is near the Austrian border, a short train ride from Vienna. With the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire its status as part of Hungary was decided by local plebiscite with 65%. Since then it calls itself Civitas Fidelissima (The Most Loyal Town).

The architecture of the old section of town reflects its long history; walls and foundations from the Roman Empire are still common, together with a wealth of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque structures, often artistically decorated, showing centuries of stability and prosperity. There is an old synagogue and other remains from the town's former Jewish community which was expelled in the 1500s.

Sopron is a significant wine producing region, one of the few in Hungary to make red and white wines. Grapes include Kékfrankos for red wine and Traminer (Gewürztraminer) for white wine. In climate it is similar to the neighbouring Burgenland wine region in Austria, and several winemakers make wine in both countries.

People

• Franz von Suppé
• Franz Liszt
• Georg Trakl

External links

• City of Sopron official website (http://www.sopron.hu/sopron/main.php)
• West-Hungarian University (University of Sopron) (http://www.nyme.hu/)
• CyberPress - An informative magazine about Sopron's public life (http://www.cyberpress.hu/)
• ImageTownsIndex - Virtual Tour of Sopron (http://index.sopron.hu/)

	Counties in Hungary
Counties: Bács-Kiskun | Baranya | Békés | Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén | Csongrád | Fejér | Győr-Moson-Sopron | Hajdú-Bihar | Heves | Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok | Komárom-Esztergom | Nógrád | Pest | Somogy | Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg | Tolna | Vas | Veszprém | Zala
Capital: (usually treated as the 20th county) Budapest
Urban counties: Békéscsaba | Debrecen | Dunaújváros | Eger | Győr | Hódmezővásárhely | Kaposvár | Kecskemét | Miskolc | Nagykanizsa | Nyíregyháza | Pécs | Salgótarján | Sopron | Szeged | Szekszárd | Székesfehérvár | Szolnok | Szombathely | Tatabánya | Veszprém | Zalaegerszeg
See also: List of historic counties of Hungary