Gyönk / Gyonk, Hungary (Official)
Jing, Jink (German)
Tolna County
This was the earliest Lutheran community established in Tolna County in 1719 consisting of Hungarian Lutherans. They were joined later by German Lutherans who came from Hesse, with the principle movement beginning in 1725 when families arrived there from Cikó who had left that community to avoid conversion to Roman Catholicism. Reformed Hungarians and Germans from Hesse were also established in the community quite early through the efforts of the Reformed landlord who was also a “bishop” of the Hungarian Reformed Church.
The earliest Lutheran Church Records begin in 1733 when the congregation became a legal Mother Church. It also served filial congregations and Lutheran families living in Keszö Hidegkut, Udvári, Szárázd and Kalaznó until the Edict of Toleration.
They intermarried with families from Keszö Hidegkut, Kalaznó, Nagyszekély, Varsád, Paks, Cikó, Mucsfa, Udvári, Kistormás, Bátaapáti, Szárázd, Kötcse, Mekényes, Tófü, Felsö Nána, Bonyhád, Kajdács, Györköny, Bikal, Somogydöröcske, Kölesd, Murga, Hidas, Sárszentlörinc, Belécska, Rác Kozar, Vejke, Kapoly, Felsö Mocsolád, Szabádi, Izmény, Harta, Kéty, Csikostöttös, Bikács, Polány, Dalmánd, Miszla and Somogyszil.
The Reformed Church Records that were begun in 1739 were a result of a split between the Hungarian and German families and the congregations went their separate ways. There was some intermarriage between the Reformed and Lutheran families in the community, which meant that in most cases the daughters born to the marriage followed the religion of their mother and the sons that of their father. But that was not always the case.
There was also intermarriage with other Reformed families living in nearby communities principally Nagyszekély, and also Kalaznó, Tófü, Varsád, Felsö Nána, Kistormás, Mórágy, Murga, Györe, Hidas, Kéty, Szárázd, Kis Berény, Mucsfa, Udvári, Bonyhád, Mekényes, Kapoly, Felsö Mocsolád, Somogydöröcske, Gerényes, Ecsény, Bonnya, Paks and Belecska. There were Reformed minorities in most of the Lutheran communities that continued in their faith but the vast majority eventually became part of the Lutheran Church. There were, however, several large totally Reformed communities such as Nagyszekély, Hidas, Mórágy and Felsö Mocsolád.
by Henry A. Fischer
- Lookups Guide: Henry Fischer - Gyönk (Evangelical Lutheran) 1731-1895 (Also includes: Keszöhidegkút, Szarázd, Udvári, Belecska) Church Record Transcriptions
- Lookups Guide: Henry Fischer - Gyönk (Reformed) 1739-1867 Church Record Transcriptions
- The Inhabitants of Gyönk Settle in Mekenyes 1735 by Henry Fischer
- The Settlement of Gyönk After the Turkish Occupation by Henry Fischer
Music class in Gyönk, Hungary, 1910. Adam Schneider (1st row, 2nd from right w/flugelhorn. [Ruth Melcher]
Last updated: 09/10/2026