Békefi J. et al./Scientific Papers: Animal Science and Biotechnologies, 2013, 46 (2)
History of Carpathian Braunvieh
Janka Békefi 1, András Gáspárdy 2, Béla Béri 1
1
University of Debrecen AGTC, Institute of Animal Husbandry - 4032 Debrecen, Böszörményi str. 138, Hungary
2
Szent István University, Faculty of Veterinary Science - 1078 Budapest, István str. 2, Hungary
Abstract
The Carparhian Braunvieh is a three purpose autochthonous breed of the Carpathian Basin. It was established by
cross-breeding Mokanitza, Riska and Busa with the dairy Schweizer Braunvieh approximately 150 years ago. In the
1880’s it has a large breeding region from the highlands of Northern Hungary through Subcarpathia and all over
Transylvania. Until 1914 a number of Allgauer, Innthaler, Etschthaler and Montafoner sires were taken to raise the
mik production. By the end of 1930’s near the whole livestock in Hungary consisted of red spotted breeds, and later
it exchanged to the intensive Holstein breed. As the original type of Braunvieh wasn’t competitive with the highproductivity breeds, it was pushed into the background in Hungary and becomes rare or rather lived on as a
crossbreed livestock in Romania and Ukraine. As neither Romania, nor Ukraine maintains a pure breeding on the
breed, we decided to set on feet a reserve program of Carpathian Braunvieh. Here we will give an overview of its
multifarious Hungarian history of the breed.
Keywords: Braunvieh, Carpathian Basin, Carpathian Brown, cattle, history, rare
1. Introduction
2. Ancestors and founding of the breed
The Carparhian Braunvieh is an unassuming three
purpose autochthonous breed of the Carpathian
Basin. It was established by cross-breeding three
local breeds: Mokanitza, Riska and Busa with the
dairy Schweizer Braunvieh approximately 150
years ago.
The hair coat is mixed of short brown, grey and
rusty strands, often with a pale brown backbone
stripe and a white circle around the mouth and
nose. Its height at withers is about 120-130 cm.
It's suitable for utilisation of inclined or gritty
meadows and reservation areas, as draught cattle.
In the 1880’s it has a large breeding region. As the
original type wasn’t competitive with the highproductivity breeds, in the last decades it became
rare and endangered.
As neither Romania, nor Ucraine maintains a pure
breeding on the breed, we decided to set on feet a
reserve program of Carpathian Braunvieh. Here
we will give an overview of its multifarious
Hungarian history of the breed.
In the middle of the 19th century there were some
small, robust and long-living cattle varieties in
Transcarpathia and North-East Transylvania. The
Carpathian Braunvieh established on these breeds,
so it’s essential to take a few words on them.
Standing apart, a smutty colour type of Riska
cattle lived in the Transcarpathian Ruthenia
(Figure 1). As far back as the 40’s it was a rare
type [1].
Figure 1: Smutty riska cow at Técső [1]
_______________________
Corresponding author: Janka Békefi
+36 30/ 8157562, [email protected]
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The other Riska variety was a small, reddish
brown cattle, with about 105-110 cm height at
withers. Its name was Kuli or Bosnian cattle and
was current in Transdanubia. In Transdrava region
it was still dominant in 1895. Nowadays they
probably become extinct [2].
Mokány or Mokantiza was a dumpy short-horned,
frosted colour cattle, held by the peasantry of
Bánát, Bukovina, Moldova and Olténia. Csángó
cattle, a similar subtype lived in Csík-Gyergyó.
The Ruthenian Braunvieh-type cattle was endemic
in North-East Transylvania. It had two variants:
Verhcovina that was hold in the Western
Transcarpathia; and the Hucul lived in
Máramaros. The latter was mixed with podolian
cattle, so it’s hair was silver-grey [3,4,5].
The Busa cattle lived in the Romanian
Carpathians. A variant of this bull-headed, robust
bony breed is still keeping in the ex-Yugoslavian
countries.
The Braunvieh population in Carpathians was
raised distinct from the other Braunviehs, and
counted about 100000 animals, when the
Hungarian government first took alpine sires on it
in 1879. Since the surroundings remain
unchanged, only the breed’s appearance became
more uniform. This breed is called Carpathian
Braunvieh.
3. Early episodes
In 1880 the Agricultural Ministry divided the
country in breeding ranges, marking the breeds
proposed to be raised on them. The Braunvieh
breed was suggested for the North-Eastern range
of Carpathians, - excepting the Szepes - from the
Trencsén county through Ung, Bereg, Ugocsa, and
Szatmár to Máramaros and Beszterce-Naszód
[4,6,7].
From 1879 to 1914, abut 2500 heifers and 3300
sires were dealt out for public breeding.
Additionally, a lot of raisers imported herds on
their own or laying a charge on the importer firm
„Pick and Dullner”. Allgauer, Innthaler,
Etschthaler and Montafoner sires were taken for
raise the milk production. To prevent the breedblending at the frontiers, the Pinzgauer was pick
out to use for the Northern Hungarian highlands,
because it hardly differs from the Braunviehs
[8,9].
The Hungarian Economic Association organised
annual sire sales. From 1885 the association keeps
Public Braunvieh Herdbook. In the Herdbook 49
herds were recorded until 1910. Figure 2 shows
the varieties of the imported Braunvieh herds by
counties - on the basis of the herdbook records
from 1885 to 1895 [9].
Figure 2: Division of each imported Braunvieh breeds [9]
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(2.78 %) in Hungary and 16626 (1.57 %) over the
Királyhágó in 1895, and 171910 animals (2.85 %)
in Hungary and 10229 (0.97 %) over the
Királyhágó in 1911 [13].
4. Breed change and deal-out of sires
In 1894, rubrique XII was enacted, what reenabled counties to exchange their marked breed
to another that fits better to the local conditions.
By the year 1914 the Hungarian cattle livestock
was roughly replaced. First the Western and
Northern counties covered the breed-change, and
between the World Wars the poorest sides of
Transylvania and the Northern Highland
terminated the process [4].
As it is showed in Table 1, the change in breed
composition is well illustrated in the county
Abaúj-Torna [10]. In the 1850’s only the
Hungarian grey cattle was kept in the county,
except the Northern mountain range, where the
small highland cattle was herd. Until the end of
the 1930’s near the whole livestock was replaced
by red spotted breeds.
5. Historic and spatial changes
During two decades after the Treaty of Trianon,
Czechoslovakia also imported alpine Braunvieh
sires to Transcarpathia, and were dealt out
primarily in the area of Técső [14].
For that time, only 1.7% Braunvieh remained in
Hungary, and it was concentrated in counties
Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Szabolcs-SzatmárBereg.
Based on the official Romanian statistics from
1935, there was 22% Braunvieh and Braunviehcrossbred cattle in the Northern Transylvania
region – counties of Máramaros, Szolnok-Doboka,
Beszterce-Naszód and Szatmár (Figure 3).
Table 1: Breed composition and total number of cattle
in county Abaúj-Torna, based on the official livestock
counting in three different years [10].
Cattle livestock at county Abaúj-Torna
1895
1911
1935
Hungarian grey
72 %
19.7 %
1.7 %
Red spotted
8.6 %
66.4 %
97.4 %
Braunvieh
2.4 %
5.3 %
Mokány/Riska
13.8 %
0.9 %
8.6 %
Others
3.2 %
Total number
4900
4282
5350
Over against this tendency in Transcarpathia there
was an increase in the Braunvieh number. For
improving the living conditions of poor
Transcarpathian highland citizens, in 1897 the
Hungarian government starts its Highland Action.
In the course of the project, Ede Egan, the
ministerial delegate rented more than 12600 acre
of meadow and plough-land from count
Schönborn-Buchheim in order to hire it out in
smaller units to the Ruthen, Slovak and Galícian
Jew peasantry [11].
Following the Swiss example, Egan tried to
promote alpine farming. Until 1900 more than 500
sires (and approximately the same number of
boars) as well as 1000 Oberinnthaler heifers were
dealt out at reduced rate. Later, the project also
extended to the adjacent Szolyva, and than to
other regions for example Zsolna, Eperjes and
Nagyvárad [12].
Based on the official counting the whole
Braunvieh livestock there was 158150 animals
Figure 3: Riska cow-cart in Huszt region [14]
The Romanian Agricultural and Manorial Ministry
marked the suggested breeds per counties. The
Braunvieh breeding region involved county
Máramaros, and some parts of Szolnok-Doboka,
Bihar, Arad and Szatmár (Figure 4).
Through this time, there was a large-scale
Braunvieh export from Máramaros to Balkan,
Anatolia and the Middle East [13].
After the Vienna Awards, the demand increased
for the Braunvieh breeding again (Table 2). The
uncommon toughness and unassumity was tried to
be utilized in pure-bred herds as well as in various
crossbreeding trials. In addition, there was an
ambition to exterminate the lack of pedigree sires
and dams in Transylvania and Transcarpathia by
rearing their own sire calves [9,13,15].
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Figure 4: Breeding regions of cattle at Romania in 1935 [13]
near relatives of those, even so their legs are
white, that is incongruity in Braunvieh breed [16].
Table 2: Participation of Braunvieh cattle by the
counties returned by the Second Vienna Award [13]
Participation of Braunvieh breed
1911
1943
1.25 %
0.9 %
Bihar
49.80 %
59.8 %
Máramaros
1.68 %
5.6 %
Szatmár
0.49 %
1.2 %
Szilágy
1.15 %
3.9 %
Beszterce-Naszód
0.45 %
0.6 %
Csík
2.60 %
5.2 %
Háromszék
0.42 %
0.6 %
Kolozs
1.10 %
1.3 %
Maros-Torda
0.51 %
9.5 %
Szolnok-Doboka
0.75 %
0.4 %
Udvarhely
Figure 5: Count Schönborn-Buchheim’s Braunvieh
sire-cart at the National Breeding Show and Fair in
1942 [16].
Every year the best valued Braunvieh dairy-farms
were chosen and the Journal of the Hungarian
Breeders publish the winner’s list.
In 1939 the Hungarian government imported 428
pregnant cows and heifers from Switzerland.
Based on the chronicle, 77 of them were sold to
the county Ung, 120 to Máramaros and 84 to
Bereg-Ugocsa.
From that year, the Braunvieh breed reappears at
the National Breeding Shows and Fairs (Figure 5).
This photo (Figure 5) is an interesting one because
those must be original, imported sires, or at least
6. Recent past and actualities
After the Paris Peace Treaties, the Braunvieh
rearing in Hungary was overshadowed by the
breeding of the red spotted breeds, and there were
also attempts for crossbreeding these two breeds.
Between 1952 and 1974 there was a trial at the
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Experimental Farm of Hosszúhát amongst others
to crossbreeding Braunvieh with Hungarian Grey.
Unfortunately the circumstances were too troubled
to adjudge on its success [17].
During the soviet regime, there was set up a
Breeding Station at Nagybakta for reserving the
Carpathian Braunvieh cattle (Figure 6). Moreover
breeding stations were set up also at Gát,
Beregrákos, Ilonok and other towns [18].
Acknowledgements
The work was supported by the TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/12010-0024 project. The project is co-financed by the
European Union and the European Social Fund
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Hegyközben, 1983, Miskolc, ISBN 963-01-2959-0, pp
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század elején, 2007, Ungvár, ISBN: 966-7966, pp 140.
12. Erődi-Harrach B., Az Egan-jelentés negyven év
előtt és ma, Szociális Szemle, I/3, 1940, pp 104-112.
13. Nagy M., Szarvasmarha és Bivalytenyésztés
Erdélyben, Erdély Mezőgazdasága, 1944, Kolozsvár,
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14. Csukás Z., A Ruténföld szarvasmarhatenyésztése,
Magyar Állattenyésztés 1940, II/4, pp 57.
15. Latinovits J., Néhány szó a magyar borzderes
marháról, Köztelek, 1941, LI/18
16. Battha P, Állattenyésztésünk nagy sikere az
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mezőgazdasági
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17. Borics I., Magyar szürke tenyésztése, tejtermelése
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Figure 6: Tipical Transcarpathian cow
in Nagybakta [1]
From the 1960’s the separation of utilization
comes to the front and the expectations for higher
productivity becomes stronger. Therefore, the
three usage extensive original Carparhian
Braunvieh felt out of the breeding. The longest it
was herd at Beregsurány, Beregdaróc and Barabás
[18].
As we know, nowadays neither Romania, nor
Ukraine maintains a purebred rearing on the
Carpathian Brown, because of its lower efficiency.
In Hungary the breed reappears only in 2008,
when the Polyan Fellowship set up an ecological
farm in the village of Mikóháza. It starts with an
import of 18 cows and one bull from all over
Transylvania. Nowadays, after other imports and 5
year breeding there is a population of about 80
heads.
7. Summation
After all reminiscences on its establishment and
history in the Carpathian Basin, we can say this is
a typical rustic, ancestral breed that should be
maintained. On one hand for preserving a slice of
our history and on the other hand for ensure the
survival of its great secondary features, for
instance frugality and toughness.
Above all, we hope to verify with genetic
examinations on the current livestock that there
still hiding a little from their ancestors.
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