Associations and Communities in Hungary in the Second Half of the 19th Century

The 19th cen­tury saw a boom in the or­gan­isa­tion of civil com­munit­ies in all European coun­tries. Le­gis­lat­ive changes gave room for the in­sti­tu­tion­al­isa­tion of as­so­ci­ations, clubs and circles, and as a res­ult the num­ber of these or­gan­isa­tions mul­ti­plied. Re­search on as­so­ci­ations is a mul­ti­fa­ceted task, as they cover a range of dis­cip­lines de­pend­ing on their type. Their lit­er­at­ure and ap­proaches are there­fore di­verse. Cul­tural his­tory, so­cial his­tory, so­ci­ology, stat­ist­ics, legal his­tory, lit­er­ary his­tory and eth­no­graphy can all play a role in the study of as­so­ci­ations. The present study ex­am­ines the types, num­ber and mem­ber­ship of as­so­ci­ations in Hun­gary in the 19th cen­tury in a European com­par­ison.