Hungary: Church Chronology

February 1885 • BudapestMissionaries Thomas Biesinger and James E. Jennings worked in Budapest for about a month.

February 1, 1887 and February 26, 1888 • Constantinople, Turkey, and Szerb-Csernye, Austria-Hungary (now Srpska Crnja, Serbia)Mischa Markow encountered Ferdinand F. Hintze, president of the Turkish Mission, and requested baptism. A year later, Ferdinand traveled to Mischa’s home in Szerb-Csernye and ordained him an elder.

June 1899 • Bechkeret, Austria-HungaryHaving been called as a full-time missionary, Mischa Markow attempted to preach the gospel, but was arrested and banished from the country one month later.

September 13, 1900 • Temesvár, Austria-Hungary (now Timişoara, Romania)Mischa Markow and Hyrum M. Lau renewed missionary work, although they were legally banned from holding Church meetings. After an after-dark baptismal service on March 30, 1901, 31 baptized members now comprised a local branch.

April 1, 1901 • TemesvárMissionaries were banished from the country, and local members Franz Kortje and Matthaus Sadorf took charge of the branch.

1903 • HungaryMissionaries returned and continued proselytizing until the onset of World War I.

July 1903 • Brassó, Austria-HungaryMischa Markow preached in Brassó for five weeks, teaching Anna Wachsmann, who chose to be baptized the following year. Over the next seven years, Brassó became the main center of Church activity.

1904–05 • HungaryThe majority of converts emigrated to unite with other Church members in the United States.

December 30, 1908 • BudapestAfter years of missionaries preaching in German to members of the German-speaking minority in Hungary, missionary John Ensign Hill was given the assignment to preach the gospel in Hungarian (Magyarul).

1909 • Budapest

John Ensign Hill translated missionary tracts into Hungarian, initially assisted by Ottilia Franzen, a 14-year-old convert, and later by his landlord Antal Weinzierl. In December 1909, he printed 100,000 tracts.

January 1911 • BrassóThe missionaries finally received permission to legally hold public meetings, reversing a 30-year-old edict. The Church received legal recognition in November 1911, although that decision was rescinded the following year.

March 5, 1913 • HungaryMissionary work in Hungarian was discontinued. Most of the Church members in Hungary remained ethnic Germans.

August 10, 1914 • HungaryThe outbreak of World War I led to the evacuation of all missionaries. Members, such as Anna Kaufmann, the single remaining member in Budapest, persevered on their own.

1929 • BudapestAnna Kaufmann, the last remaining Latter-day Saint in Budapest, died.

1931 • Prague, CzechoslovakiaEtus von Haragos, a Hungarian member, and Arthur Gaeth, president of the Czechoslovak Mission, revived work on a Hungarian translation of the Book of Mormon that had first been initiated in 1909. By January 1933, the work was complete, but Arthur was released, and the draft was never published.

August 18, 1949 • HungaryUnder the 1949 Constitution under a socialist government, the name of the country changed to the People’s Republic of Hungary.

1955 • DebrecenRichard Ranglack from the East German Mission traveled to Debrecen to ordain Janos Denndörfer to the Melchizedek Priesthood.

1959 • HungaryThe Hungarian government invited the Church genealogical department to film the records from the national archives. The project lasted 13 years and preserved parish, military, and census records on 10,600 rolls of microfilm.

1964 • HungaryTwo Hungarians wrote to Church headquarters requesting information. A Hungarian-speaking member in New York, Otto Paulus Neu, corresponded with them and others for the next 14 years and visited them in Hungary, beginning in August 1966.

June 1965 • DebrecenMargit Toth Sandorne and Janos Denndörfer, two Latter-day Saints who had persisted in their practice throughout years of isolation, met with J. Peter Loescher, Austrian Mission president, and Siegfried Szoke, a Hungarian-speaking missionary, at Denndörfer’s home in Debrecen.

September 1976 • BudapestTwenty-five people attended a baptismal service of six local converts, enabled by a portable font brought by Gustav Salik, Austria Vienna Mission president who was attempting to reestablish the Church. Local authorities ended further efforts.

October 1984 • HungaryHungarian National Television sent a film crew to Utah to produce a miniseries about the Church. It was broadcast throughout Hungary in 1985, elevating the Church’s reputation and leading to conversions.

June 29–30, 1985 • Freiberg, GermanyGordon B. Hinckley of the First Presidency dedicated the Freiberg Germany Temple. The temple would serve the Saints of Eastern Europe, including Hungary.

1986 • DebrecenHans B. Ringger, a General Authority of the Church, visited a lone member, Margit Toth Sandorne, and administered the sacrament for her.

1987 • HungaryHungarian officials allowed missionaries into the country, but they were not allowed to openly proselytize, baptize, or wear their missionary badges. Local converts traveled to Vienna, Austria, to be baptized.

April 19, 1987 • BudapestThe Szeged Branch was organized, with Marvin Smith as president, and the Ajka Branch was organized, with Gedeon Kereszti as president. At dusk, local member Peter P. Varga and others accompanied Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to Gellért Hill to dedicate Hungary for the preaching of the gospel.

April 21, 1987 • BudapestThe Budapest Branch was organized, with Peter P. Varga as branch president.

June 1, 1988 • BudapestThe Hungarian government granted the Church full legal recognition.

June 23, 1988 • BudapestFollowing the Church’s official legal recognition, Erika Varga and two others were the first to be baptized.

June 25, 1988 • BudapestThe Hungary District was created, with Gedeon Kereszti as president and Peter P. Varga as a counselor.

October 17, 1989 • BudapestThomas S. Monson, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the first meetinghouse in Hungary. The Church had purchased and remodeled a stately home, the Rothschild Mansion.

July 1990 • Salt Lake CityFerenc Csapó from Dunaújváros, Hungary, traveled to Utah to receive his endowment in the Jordan River Utah Temple. He then helped create the audio track for the temple ceremony in Hungarian.

April 4–6, 1991 • Freiberg, GermanyThe first group of Hungarians traveled to the Freiberg Germany Temple.

July 25–27, 1991 • BudapestFifty people, including youth ages 14–18 from all over Hungary, attended the first youth conference, which was held at Csillebérc National Park in the hills north of Budapest.

December 1991 • HungaryThe Book of Mormon was published in Hungarian and distributed to the Saints in time for Christmas.

September 1993 • HungaryLocal member teachers began teaching seminary and institute programs in branches throughout Hungary.

1993 • HungaryErika Ibolya Kozma was the first full-time missionary to serve in Hungary, serving in the Hungary Budapest Mission from 1993 to 1995.

1995 • HungaryFive busloads of Saints traveled to Freiberg, Germany, where they attended the temple and received their endowments.

1995 • Salt Lake CityThe Doctrine and Covenants was published in Hungarian.

April 2001 • Budapest and GyőrChurch members viewed general conference for the first time via satellite broadcast.

Stake Presidency, June 4, 2006 • Budapest

The Budapest Hungary Stake was created, with Gábor Klinger as president.

December 20, 2009 • BudapestGeorg G. Hauck, a native Hungarian, became patriarch of the Budapest Hungary Stake.

January–February 2012 • HungaryShortly following a new law that went into effect January 1, 2012, Hungary’s new government granted the Church formal recognition. This gave the Church tax-free status, qualified it for government support, and allowed it to collect donations during services and do pastoral work in jails and hospitals.

August 2015 • HungaryHungary’s Duna TV produced a 12-minute program about Church missionaries in Hungary, which aired as part of a series on religious diversity.

April 7, 2019 • Salt Lake CityThe construction of the Budapest Hungary Temple was announced in general conference.

April 27, 2019 • BudapestA group of young single adult Latter-day Saints gave many hours of voluntary service to the Noah Animal Shelter, repairing cages, building earthworks, walking dogs, preparing food, and cleaning.