Szeged has beautiful buildings and wide avenues. This is mainly due to the great flood of 1879, which literally wiped away the whole town (only 265 of the 5723 houses remained and 165 people died). Emperor Franz Joseph visited the town and promised that "Szeged will be more beautiful than it used to be". He kept his promise. During the next years a new, modern city emerged from the ruins, with palaces and wide streets. After the First World War Hungary lost its southern territories to Serbia, as a result Szeged became a city close to the border, and its importance
Szeged lessened, but as it took over roles that formerly belonged to the now lost cities, it slowly recovered. Following the Loss of Transilvania to Romania, University of Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, moved to Szeged in 1921 (see University of Szeged). In 1923 Szeged took over the role of episcopal seat from Temesvár (now Timișoara, Romania). It was briefly occupied by Romanian army during Hungarian-Romanian War in 1919. During the 1920s the Jewish population of Szeged grew and reached its zenith. Szeged suffered heavily during World War II. 6,000 inhabitants of the city were killed, the Jewish citizens were confined to ghettos