The Polish-Hungarian Friendship Monument in Győr is a symbol of the long-standing and usually good relations between Poland and Hungary. The history of mutual contacts dates back to the Middle Ages, when the two nations were often linked by political and military alliances.

One of the early examples of Polish-Hungarian relations is the marriage of Bolesław Chrobry to a Hungarian princess. Various concepts have grown up around this figure, and a recent theory is that she came from a family of Transylvanian princes, was the daughter of Gyula the Elder and is identified with his other daughter Karolda. This concept is reinforced by the name of their descendant, Bezprym, which may refer to the castle of Bezprem, with which the Transylvanian family was linked. The marriage was dynastic in nature and served to build an alliance. Thus, the beginnings of Polish-Hungarian friendship were born in the alcove, as early as 966.

Another important figure in Polish-Hungarian relations is Saint Kinga, daughter of King Bela IV of Hungary. At the age of 12 she married Boleslaw V the Chaste, Duke of Cracow. Kinga played a significant role in the religious and cultural life of Poland, supporting the founding of monasteries and hospitals. She is also regarded as the patron saint of miners, and legend has it that it was she who brought salt from Hungarian mines to Poland.

Poland and Hungary have also shared military alliances on many occasions. St Jadwiga of Anjou, crowned king of Poland in 1384, was the daughter of Louis of Hungary. In turn, Sigismund I the Old married Barbara Zápolya, sister of John Zápolya, King of Hungary. This marriage strengthened the alliance between Poland and the Hungarian faction vying for the throne with the Habsburgs.

In 1109, during the reign of Boleslaus III the Wrymouth, Poland, bound by an alliance with Bohemia, provided a counterbalance to Emperor Henry V and the Bohemian-German army. Alliances were also made against the Ottoman Empire, and Hungarian mercenaries participated in the Battle of Grunwald. Joint military action allowed both countries to defend their territories more effectively and to support each other against external threats.

Most important, however, were dynastic ties. In 1370, after the death of Casimir the Great, Louis of Hungary, King of Hungary, took the Polish throne, which initiated a personal union between the two countries. The next king to sit on both thrones for four years was Władysław Warneńczyk. His reign ended tragically at the Battle of Varna in 1444, where he died fighting against the Turks. He was the first representative of the Jagiellonian dynasty on the Hungarian throne. The next of the Jagiellonians were King Ladislaus II Jagiellon of Bohemia and Louis II Jagiellon. This was a period of intense political and dynastic relations between Poland and Hungary.

The personal union with Transylvania and the intense Polish-Hungarian ties under Stefan Batory, who was Duke of Transylvania, should not be overlooked either. Although it lies in present-day Romania, it was then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Poland owes Batory a series of military reforms that significantly affected the country's defence capabilities. He organised and modernised the army, introducing elements familiar to him from the Hungarian experience, including the infantry of choice, which played a key role in his military campaigns, especially in the wars against Moscow.

Stefan Batory was also a patron of the arts and sciences. He brought outstanding scholars, artists and architects to his court, which contributed to the development of Renaissance culture in Poland. His contacts with Hungarian intellectuals and humanists influenced the shaping of Polish culture in this period.

Undoubtedly important dates in the history of both nations are 1526 - the Battle of Mohacz - and the beginning of the 18th century and the Rakoczy Uprising, which partly became one of the foundations of good Polish-Hungarian relations. From the Polish perspective, the weakening of the Habsburgs' position was beneficial. Francis II Rakoczy maintained close contacts with the Polish nobility and magnates. During the uprising, he visited Poland many times, where he held talks with the magnates, gaining their support. Poland, being Hungary's neighbour, served as a safe haven and base of operations for the Hungarian insurgents. Rakoczy and his allies were able to plan and organise operations from Polish territory.

The second major insurrectionary episode was the Spring of Nations, which swept Europe between 1848 and 1849. Hungarians, led by Lajos Kossuth, then sought autonomy and later independence from the Habsburg monarchy. Although this action ultimately ended in defeat after the Russian invasion, the figure of General Joseph Bem in particular, who played a significant role in the uprising as commander of the Transylvanian army, is widely remembered in Hungary. Numerous monuments and plaques bear witness to this. Other important figures include Henryk Dembinski or Michal Czajkowski.

The dramatic events of 1956 - when the Hungarian uprising began in support of the reformist trend in Poland - must not be forgotten. After the bloody suppression of the uprising, the Poles gave extensive support to the Hungarians, providing, among other things, blood and food parcels.

During the Second World War, when Hungary was an ally of Germany, there were 20 internment camps in Hungary at its peak, holding some 33,000 soldiers, including in Balatonboglár, where a Polish school was even established, Sárvár, which had nearly 3,000 people, and in Esztergom. The total number of refugees, both civilian and military, is estimated to have ranged from about 50,000 to about 140,000. The lack of regular statistics, especially in the first period, as well as the flow of population also from the territories of the then Yugoslavia, makes it difficult to determine this number unequivocally. Despite German pressure, the Hungarians usually left the Polish soldiers relatively free, and the Hungarian population showed great solidarity with the Poles. The situation, however, depended to a large extent on the approach of the camp commandant; in some camps, such as Lewa, these relations did not go very well. Polish soldiers were supported with food, clothing and shelter, although sometimes the sanitary conditions in the centres were very bad. At the same time, many Hungarians risked their own safety to help the Polish refugees. Polish soldiers in Hungary reportedly also engaged at times in intelligence and sabotage activities against the Germans.

In 1944, when the Germans took control of Hungary, the situation of Polish soldiers deteriorated significantly. Many were arrested and some camps were closed down. Nevertheless, many Poles managed to hide and survive until the end of the war thanks to the help of Hungarian friends. Numerous plaques commemorating the presence of Polish soldiers are testimony to the good relations of that time.

In addition to diplomatic and military ties, trade relations, which were formed from the time of Mieszko I, and cultural relations, which gained particular importance during the reign of the Jagiellons, were also very important. The Cracow Academy attracted numerous students from Hungary. Poles in turn studied at the Universitas Istropolitana in Bratislava, which was then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. This school, founded on the statutes of the University of Bologna, was characterised by a humanist and anti-scholastic atmosphere. The emphasis there was on natural sciences, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. The academics working there came from Vienna, Italy, but also from Poland, such as Marcin from Olkusz. The university collapsed in 1491 after the death of Matthias Corvinus, who had paid for its upkeep.

The community of interests, which resulted in a rapprochement between Poles and Hungarians that went beyond purely conjunctural support, was sometimes put to the test. Such a moment was the dispute over Halich Ruthenia, located on the strategic border between Poland and Hungary. The conflict intensified after Louis of Hungary occupied it. It was not until the Union of Krewa (1385) and the act of incorporation of Halich-Vlodzimierska Rus to the Crown in 1387, issued by Jadwiga, King of Poland and heir of Louis of Hungary, that the conflict was extinguished. This was confirmed by the covenant concluded at Ljubovljana in 1412, leaving these territories attached to Poland for at least 15 years after the death of Ladislaus Jagiello or Sigismund of Luxembourg.

The second particularly difficult moment was the alliance of George II Rákóczi with Sweden and the incursion of Hungarian troops into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1657 and the plundering they carried out. The situation was reversed by the Battle of Černý Ostrov and the defeat of Rakoczy's army by allied Polish-Tartar forces.

The November and January insurgents hoped for broader Hungarian support, and the lack of it was a cause for disappointment. Today, however, our shared memory refers primarily to these much more numerous and important moments of cooperation. A remarkable monument in the north-western Hungarian city of Győr is an expression of this cooperation. In the local Bema Park, the Polish-Hungarian Friendship Monument was unveiled on 24 March 2006. The ceremony was attended by Polish President Lech Kaczyński and Hungarian President László Sólyom. The initiative to build the monument came from the J. Piłsudski Historical Association and the Polish Minority Government in Győr. A ground-breaking ceremony took place in October 2005.

Hungarian Polish community activists Urszula and Janos Kollar were the authors of the concept for the monument - two oaks entwined by their roots, referring to the words of Stanisław Worcell in 1849: "Hungary and Poland are two eternal oaks, each of them projecting a trunk separate and distinct, but their roots, widely spread beneath the surface of the earth, intertwined and knit together invisibly. Hence, the existence and vigour of one is the condition of life and health for the other." The author of the monument is the Hungarian sculptor Dávid Tóth, creator of monuments on Polish-Hungarian themes and also of the reliquary of Blessed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko in Budapest. The monument was created thanks to the support of the J. Piłsudski Polish-Hungarian Historical Association, the Polish Minority Government in Győr, the Council for the Protection of Monuments to Struggle and Martyrdom, local authorities, the Polish Consulate in Hungary and numerous Poles and Hungarians. Inscriptions on the plaques placed in front of the monument in Polish and Hungarian.
THE MONUMENT TO POLISH-HUNGARIAN FRIENDSHIP / POLAND AND HUNGARY ARE TWO ETERNAL OAKS, EACH OF THEM / SHOT UP WITH A SEPARATE AND DISTINCT TRUNK, BUT THEIR ROOTS, / SPREAD WIDELY BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH AND INTERTWINED, / AND GREW TOGETHER INVISIBLY. HENCE THE EXISTENCE AND BLACKNESS OF THE ONE / IS TO THE OTHER THE CONDITION OF LIFE AND HEALTH / STANISŁAW WORCELL //.
LENGYEL-MAGYAR BARÁTSÁG EMLÉKMŰ / MAGYARORSZÁG ÉS LENGYELORSZÁG KÉT ÖRÖKLETŰ TÖLGY, MELYEK / KÜLÖN TÖRZSET NÖVESZTETTEK, DE GYÖKEREIK A FÖLD ALATT MESSZE / FUTNAK, ÖSSZEKAPCSOLÓDNAK ÉS LÁTHATATLANUL EGYBEFONÓDNAK. / EZÉRT EGYIKNEK LÉTE ÉS ERŐTELJESSÉGE A MÁSİK ÉLETÉNEK ÉS / EGÉSZSÉGÉNEK FELTÉTEL / STANISŁAW WORCELL //.

On the sides of the monument there are also plaques in Polish and Hungarian listing the main donors.

The pedestal bears the signature: TÓTH DÁVID.

The monument underwent restoration in 2024.

In Poland, a twin monument was unveiled in Jarosław in 2008. The location is no coincidence - it was here that Franciszek Rakoczy and three thousand soldiers found refuge after the fall of the uprising.