Kercseliget


Kercseliget is a village in Somogy county in southern Hungary.
The settlement is part of the Balatonboglár wine region.

Etymology

There are two theories about the name of the settlement. According to the first one the German residents started to call their village Gartenchen and Parkchen which were translated into Hungarian as kertecske and ligetecske. According to other sources the name derives from the Hungarian person name Kercse which was added to the second part of the name of the village which means park in Hungarian.

Geography

It lies at the meeting point of the three counties: Tolna, Baranya and Somogy.

History

It was first mentioned in 1332 without a name. During the Turkish occupation it became uninhabited. In the 18th century Kristóf Nitzky bought the land and invited the Roman Catholic German settlers to Kercseliget. The Madarász and Hunyadi family acquired lands there during that time. Later in 1859 the Maár and Pallavicini families had land near the settlement. Early Kercseliget had a developed industry with a brick factory and weekly market.

Main sights