Debrecen << DEH breh `tsehn` >> (pop. 199,858) is a commercial and industrial city in eastern Hungary. It serves as a market for nearby farming areas. Debrecen became a major center of Protestantism in the 1500’s and was called the Calvinist Rome. Lajos Kossuth proclaimed Hungarian independence there in 1849. In 1944, during World War II, Hungary’s provisional government met in Debrecen. Places of interest in the city include an art gallery, a museum, and a university.
