A SIKONDAI GYÓGYFÜRDŐ AZ ÁLLAMOSÍTÁS ELŐTT ÉS UTÁN: THE SIKONDA SPA BEFORE AND AFTER THE NATIONALIZATION

After the communist takeover, by the end of the 1940s, the previouslyprivately owned spas had fallen into state hands. This was also the fate of theHarkány and Sikonda spas in Baranya County. In 1928, the Salgótarján CoalMine Company searched for coal in the forest of the Parish of Székesegyházin Pécs, when it found the thermal water source at a depth of 318 meters.The forest councilor of Székesegyház, Andor Kolossváry, recognizing thepotential of the spring, using the analysis of the chief chemist of the DanubeSteamboat Shipping Company, opened a spa, in the first temporary pool ofwhich 18,000 guests bathed in the first year. In the years that followed, itsguests came in part from the ranks of the surrounding mining population,who largely treated their rheumatic ailments here. At the same time, themajority of the guests came from circles that were more able to affordhigher prices. The years 1948-49 marked a turning point in the history of thespa, which gained the status of a healing spa from 1935. The nationalizationof the spa and the transformation of the hotel into a night sanatorium canbe done during this period. From 1963, a mining sanatorium, which wasdefinitely engaged in healing, also operated here. Sikonda’s institution was64 Nyári T.: A sikondai gyógyfürdő az államosítás előtt és utánnot unique in the country, but it became one of the most significant, in manycases exemplary, mining medical centers