4 September 1993 – The reburial of Regent vitéz Miklós Horthy de nagybányai in Kenderes (video in article)

On 4 September 1993, in Kenderes, Admiral Miklós Horthy, former Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, his wife Magdolna Purgli of Jószáshely, and their younger son, József Miklós Horthy, are reburied.

On 4 September 1993, in Kenderes, Regent Miklós Horthy of Nagybánya, whose earthly remains arrived from Portugal, was reburied in the family chapel. Alongside him, his wife, Magdolna Purgli, and the urn containing the ashes of their son, József Miklós Horthy, who passed away earlier that year, were also laid to rest. The coffins were placed under a canopy in the Kenderes cemetery, where the ceremony took place on Saturday.

The reburial, in accordance with Horthy’s last will to be laid to rest in Hungarian soil, was initiated by the Hungarian Seamen’s Association. Over fifty thousand people arrived in Kenderes for the memorial service. A total of 56 members of the Horthy family attended the ceremony. The service was attended by many prominent figures from Hungary's public life. General Kálmán Kéri, in the name of his increasingly fewer fellow officers, spoke at the ceremony, representing those with whom he had once sworn allegiance to the Regent.

Bishop Lóránt Hegedűs, the clerical president of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary, also delivered a commemorative speech. Countess Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai, wife of the late Horthy István, Deputy Regent, expressed gratitude at the coffin for all those who made the reburial possible and honoured the memory of the deceased. József Miklós Horthy, the son of Horthy István, recalled the memory of his grandfather in front of the coffin.

The ecumenical church service was led by Elemér Kocsis, Bishop of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District, Pál Szalai, pastor of Kenderes, and István Seregély, Archbishop of Eger and President of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference. In the crypt, sailors bid farewell to their former commander-in-chief. As the final act of the reburial, wreaths were placed in the chapel – a wreath was sent to Kenderes by Prime Minister József Antall – and the congregation sang the national anthem in tribute. In the park of the former Horthy Castle in Kenderes, a bronze bust of Horthy in military uniform was unveiled.

May our Regent rest in peace!