| Type: | event |
| 4th World Scout Jamboree | |
| Members: | 25,792 Scouts |
| F-Date: | 1933 |
| Next: | 5th World Scout Jamboree |
The 4th World Scout Jamboree (Hungarian: 4. Cserkész Világdzsembori), a gathering of Boy Scouts from all over the world, was hosted by Hungary and held from 2 to 13 August 1933. It was attended by 25,792 Scouts, representing 46 different nations and additional territories. They encamped around the Royal Palace in the Royal Forest of Gödöllő, about 11miles from the capital of Budapest.
It was the second-to-last Jamboree for the founder of Scouting, Robert Baden-Powell. Baden-Powell and Hungarian head of state, Regent Horthy, addressed the Scouts from the grandstand built to accommodate over 5000 guests during an opening ceremony at the rally ground. Regent Horthy told the Scouts,
The Jamboree Camp Chief was the Chief Scout of Hungary, Count Teleki Pál, a member of the International Committee who had previously been and would later once again become Prime Minister of Hungary. The General Camp Manager was Vitez Kisbarnaki Ferenc Farkas, a general staff officer of the Hungarian Royal Army, who was later appointed the Chief Scout of Hungary upon Teleki Pál's death in 1941.[1]
This event was notable as the first international gathering where Air Scouts were represented, including the famous pilots, László Almásy and Robert Kronfeld.[2] A meeting of Skolta Esperanto Ligo took also place at the Jamboree.
Countries and territories with contingents of Scouts present included Hungary, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Irish Free State, England, Jamaica, Trinidad, Switzerland, Sweden, Armenia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, British Guiana, Canada, Newfoundland, Ceylon, South Africa, Austria, Romania, Norway, Portugal, Siam, Spain, Haiti, Greece, France, Gibraltar, India, Philippines, United States, Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Syria, Denmark, Iceland, Egypt, Iran, Japan, Malta, Palestine, Rhodesia, the Duchy of Luxemburg, and Russian Emigrant Scouts.[3] They lived in ten sub-camps. The overall encampment was serviced by its own post office, ambulance station, hospital, a steam railroad and station, an electric local streetcar line with four stations,[4] radio service, 14 km water supply with 9 wells and an air-service.[5]
The Jamboree daily paper, Magyar Cserkész, was printed in Hungarian, English, French and German, with contributions in other languages. Every foreign group at the Jamboree was assigned a "cousin"—a Hungarian Scout who spoke their language and served as translator and guide.[6] They wore on their right arm a white band displaying two interlocked hands embroidered in red. Over their shirt pocket they wore an embroidered patch stating their language specialty, for example, Parle Français, Spricht Deutsch or Speaks English.[7]
During the Jamboree, about 365,000 people including 100,000 from the nearby city of Gödöllő and the surrounding districts visited the Scouts from many nations, seeking "autograms"—autographs—and "change," or to trade clothing, patches, and more.[8] The total expenditure was 1,660,000 Pengő (~ 332,000 US dollar), total income was 1,668,000 Pengő (~ 333,600 US dollar).
The white stag of Hungarian mythology was the national symbol of Hungary and the official badge of the Jamboree. During the Jamboree, Scouts from the American contingent learned from their Hungarian "cousin" the meaning of the White Stag on their jamboree patch:
Baden-Powell also referred to the symbol of the Hungarian people in his farewell address to the assembled Scouts:
