The family An often quoted statement by Csaplovics János from 1829 "Hungary is Europe in a small size" is still valid even to our tight homeland, Békés County because of its ethnic and cultural colourfulness. The base of all social communities was the family which meant not only blood continuity, biological bonds but also identical cohesion and forms of work-organizations until the first half of the 20th century. The settling Hungarians, Romanians, Germans and Slovakians arrived at the plains of Békés in families and relative collaborations. In most part of our county the traditional big family remained in an easier form than the German in Orosháza and Berény, but more persistently than the Romanian, Slovakian and Serbian inhabitants. In 1858 Haán Lajos wrote about the respect of the head of the family that the women called their husband "You" (kend) even when he was away. More generations lived in the same house and worked under the lead of the head. He ordered the process of the work, gave his children away, had the right to influence production on the farm and the life of his grown-up children. The system of son heritage is now considered being unified up to the end of the 1880s. Acquaintances of the young were determined by belonging to different churches and ethnics. The Romanian-Hungarian and the German-Hungarian-Slovakian balls and spinneries were clearly separated in the multi-nation towns like Mezõberény and Gyula. Ethnic, religious and social belongs of the couple determined the aspects of supporting the unity and the wealth of the family. The turning points of human life, weddings, christenings, funerals- like holidays of the year circle- happened among ethnic frames, and up to the beginning of the 20th century their traditional elements were saved which were different by ethnic groups. By this time the tied small groups loosened and differentiated as a result of civil mentality, the importance of self-decisions and external influences grew in the families that were becoming independent. By this entire minority groups, that were organized on religious and ethnic base and also honoured each other, prevailed for example in Tótkomlós, Gyula, Mezõberény, Békéscsaba until the 1930s.