Gersekarát

Gersekarát is a village in Vas county, Hungary. In 2005 the population was 762 people in 325 households.

Location

Gersekarát lies 10 km (6 mi) west-southwest of Vasvár, 16 km (10 mi) east-southeast of Körmend, and just north of the Sárvíz Brook (Hungarian: Sárvíz-patak). Other nearby villages include Sárfimizdó (4 km (2.5 mi)), Telekes (4 km), Döbörhegy (4 km), Döröske (5 km (3 mi)), Petőmihályfa (5 km), Andrásfa (6 km (4 mi)) and Halastó (6 km).

History

The history of Gersekarát is really the history of two villages, Gerse and Karátföld, which were separate communities until 1950 (see below). The first official mention of Gerse comes from 1272; Karátföld from 1313. Both villages were created by clear-cutting the ancient forest of the area. In the first decade of the 14th century, there was an armed struggle for power between rival noble factions, the so-called "Domination of Gerse" (Hungarian: gersei hatalmaskodás). During of this struggle a member of the Pethő family was killed, and the village church was burnt down.