Gemer (in Latin: Gömörinum, in German: Gemer or Gömör, in Hungarian: Gömör) is the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. In the 19th century, and in the beginning of the 20th century, it was united with the Malohont region to form Gemer-Malohont county (in Hungarian: Gömör-Kishont). Its territory is presently in southern Slovakia and northern Hungary. Today Gemer is only an informal designation of the corresponding territory.

Geography

Gemer-Malohont county shared borders with the counties Zólyom (Zvolen), Liptó (Liptov), Szepes (Spiš), Abaúj-Torna (Abov-Turňa), Borsod, Heves and Nógrád. It was situated in Slovenské rudohorie approximately between the present-day Slovak-Hungarian border, the towns Poltár and Rožňava and the Low Tatras (Nízke Tatry). The river Slaná flowed through the county. Its area was 4289 km² around 1910.

Capitals

The capital of Gemer was the Gemer Castle, and from the early 18th century Plešivec. The capital after the addition of Malohont was Rimavská Sobota.

History

Gemer is one of the oldest counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. The territory approximately between the towns Tisovec and Rimavská Sobota, called Malohont (Hungarian: Kishont), was added only in the years 1786-1802, and the county was called Gemer a Malohont (Gömör és Kishont) since.

In 1918 (confirmed by the Treaty of Trianon 1920), most of the county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, except a very small region around Putnok, which became part of the Hungarian county Borsod-Gömör-Kishont (presently Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén).

The Czechoslovakian part of the county was part of the Slovak Land (Slovenská krajina/zem). During World War II, when Czechoslovakia was split temporarily, most of the county was occupied by Hungary under the First Vienna Award, and the Gömör-Kishont county was recreated. Since 1993, when Czechoslovakia was split, Gemer-Malohont is part of Slovakia, Košice region .

Districts

In the early 20th century, the districts and their capitals were:

• Rimavská Sobota (Hungarian: Rimaszombat)
• Garamvölgy, capital Vaľkovňa , near Šumiac (Hungarian: Nándorvölgy and Sumjác/Királyhegyalja)
• Nagyrőce/Revúca , capital Jelšava (Hungarian: Jolsva)
• Rožňava (Hungarian: Rozsnyó)
• Tornaľa (Hungarian: Tornalja)
• Rimavská Seč (Hungarian: Rimaszécs)

Urban districts:

• Rimavská Sobota (Hungarian: Rimaszombat)
• Revúca (Hungarian: Nagyrőce)
• Jelšava (Hungarian: Jolsva)
• Rožňava (Hungarian: Rozsnyó)
• Dobšina (Hungarian: Dobsina)

All the named towns are presently in Slovakia.

See also: List of traditional regions of Slovakia