Budapest Routes

On the maps:

Tér: Square

Utca: Street

Híd: Bridge

Út: Road

Felüljáró: Over bridge

Sétáló utca: Pedestrian street

Sziget: Island

Körút: Boulevard

Red circles: literature points

Green circles: cultural or tourist points

Route A:

Walk in the First District - Castle and its surroundings

„Nyugat-generation in Buda”

(I. and II. districts)

1. Bécsi kapu tér 7.

The writer and patron of art, protagonist of 20th century Hungarian culture, Baron Lajos Hatvany (1889-1961) bought this house in 1932. He maintained the most lively and colourful liberal saloon here, as the contemporaries said „one arrived to Europe at the Bécsi kapu tér”.

The Hatvany-saloon became the central meeting-point for the Nyugat generation, for Hungarian artists from all over the country and abroad. Austrian and German intellectuals visited the saloon on a regular basis when invited by Hatvany. Thomas Mann came to Budapest as the guest of the Baron three times and he met Bartók, Márai and Attila József here, at Bécsi kapu tér. Attila József read out the great humanist poem, the Welcome Thomas Mann here, in this house on the 17th of January 1935.

The memorial fountain of the 18th century writer and poet, Ferenc Kazinczy (1759-1831) is standing at Bécsi kapu tér - its presence refers to the symbolic link between Kazinczy’s and Hatvany’s role. in Hungarian culture- organizing. Kazinczy was (had been) judged because of his relation with the Hungarian Jacobinical Movement. He spent his first years of prison at the formal Franciscan Convent (Úri utca 53), which is not far from here. (The convent had been transformed to an office building in the decree of the Habsburg Emperor, King of Hungary Joseph II). The sad fate of the Jacobinical Movement’s leaders also belongs to this square: they passed through this gate (Bécsi kapu)on their way to be executed at Vérmez? (literaly: Bloody Field), or as it was called at that time, the Generals’ Field, on the 20th of May 1790.

2. Táncsics utca 13. (Verb?czy utca 13.)

Árpád Tóth (1886-1928) moved to this flat with his wife and their daughter in 1917. The poet, struggling with tuberculosis, wrote his most beautiful and painful pieces among these walls. He died here in 1928.

3. Matthias Church

Budapest, I. ker. Szentháromság tér 2.

The Church of Our Lady is generally called the Matthias Church, because its southern tower bears the coat of arms with the raven (in Latin: Corvus) of Matthias (Corvinus) Hunyadi (1458-1490).

In the thirteenth century Buda's first parish church stood here. In the fourteenth century it was rebuilt as a Gothic hall church, but its construction, just as that of so many Gothic churches in Europe, was never finished, and the northern tower was not built.

In Turkish times it became the main mosque and its interior furnishings were destroyed. During the 1686 siege its tower and roof collapsed. Later on the church was rebuilt in the Baroque style, and in the last decades of the nineteenth century Frigyes Schulek (1841-1919) reconstructed, from the excavated medieval remains, the original Gothic church, the one in which Charles Robert (1308-1342) and Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437) had been crowned, and in which the wedding of King Matthias with Catherine Podebrad in 1463 and with Beatrice of Aragon in 1470 had been solemnized.

4. Fishermen's Bastion

1014 Budapest, I. kerület, Vár

The Fishermen's Bastion is one of the most popular spots of the Castle District with visitors, as it offers a grand panorama of almost the entire city. It is situated ac the eastern side of Castle Hill, and can be reached from the centre of the district, Szentháromság tér (Trinity Square). Its architecture is characteristic of the turn of the century; its flights of stairs, its projections, its turrets, and its ambulatory-like galleries make it a mixture of the neo-Gothic and neo-Roman- esque styles and of the romantic baronial castles. In 1901-3, the aim of its architect, Frigyes Schulek, was to provide a worthy setting for the Church of Our Lady (Matthias Church); when building it he also made use of the remaining stones of the old Castle wall.

5. Tóth Árpád sétány

The Bastian Promenade, which had been used for terrace of canons for centuries got its present name by Árpád Tóth. The poet never lived here, but he frequently visited the promenade which gives a unique view of Buda.

Some parts of the famous novel, Journey by Moonlight (1937) by Antal Szerb (1901-1945), the writer and literally historian linked to Nyugat, are also set in the Castle.

6. National Széchenyi Library

1827 Budavári Palota F épület.

The National Széchényi Library of Hungary was founded in 1802. It owes its establishment and name to a highly patriotic Hungarian aristocrat, Count Ferenc Széchényi. He - at the end of the 18th century - sought out Hungarian books in the country and abroad, brought them together in a single collection and donated it to the nation in 1802. In the following year the public library, open to all, was opened in Pest. Ferenc Széchényi's patriotic deed aroused a nation-wide response. The entire society was mobilised, making donations as personal contribution to ensure the fullest possible national library. The Diet - the session of the National Assembly - placed the institution on a broader foundation: in 1808 it set up the Hungarian National Museum to collect the historical, archeological and natural relics of Hungary and incorporated the library founded earlier by Ferenc Széchényi within this frame. This was the origin of the institution which for close on two centuries was the common store of written, printed and objective relics of the Hungarian past.

The Classicist building of the Hungarian National Museum was built from the generosity and sacrifice of the nation and the library and other departments of the museum moved into it in 1846/47. It was not until 1949 that the library was separated from the museum and once again became in independent institution under the name of National Széchényi Library. It was able to move into its new quarters in the Buda Castle Palace in 1985.

7. Hungarian National Gallery

H-1014 Budapest, Szent György tér 2.

The Hungarian National Gallery is the largest public collection documenting and presenting the rise and development of the fine arts in Hungary. It has operated as an independent institution since 1957. The HNG moved to its present location, the former Royal Palace of Buda, in 1975.

8. Hunyadi János út 26

Here could be found Baron Hatvany’s world-famous art collection, especially of Impressionist paintings, what Thomas Mann also visited once. The major part of the collection disappeared during and after the Second World War. Most of them were found at the Grabar Institute, Moscow followed by the the investigation of

art historians. Their fate has not been decided yet - the Hungarian government are making efforts to bring them back to Hungary. Unfortunately, the enormous Hatvany-library was destroyed. The basement of the building, where the Baron’s library was hidden, was supposed to be extra-safe, but after it got hit by a bomb, the Danube flooded it. The library got drenched.

9. Szalag utca 12.

Arriving in Budapest after spending his childhood at a ranch, the writer and sociographer Lajos Nagy (1883-1954) moved into this house with his mother. They made their living from providing board and lodging for guests. . After they had left the house, the writer never had a permanent home for twenty years. He commemorates the years in Szalag utca in his autobiography, The Rebellious Man.

10. Apród utca 10.

Here had been Benedek Virág’s house. See 9.

(Ignác Semmelweiss (1818-1865), „the saviour of mothers” had been born at house number 1. He realized the necessity of sterilization at hospitals. The building is the Museum of Medical History today. It’s a curiosity that Antall József, prime minister of the „third” Hungarian Republic got into his position from the directorship of this museum in 1990.)

11.

Tabán, former Fehér kereszt tér

Former Mélypincze Restaurant

The Tabán had been famous for its poetic atmosphere for centuries. It was destroyed in the thirties referring for hygienic reasons, planning a new city-district at its place. It never became realized, there is a park at the place of the former narrow and romantic little streets. The pubs and restaurants of Tabán had a key-role in the turn-of-the century short story-writing, providing the scene for them and as meeting points, too. The most famous of them, the Mélypincze, had been already there as a wine cellar even in the Turkish times (mentioned in 1545). Among others, it was the favourite place of the poetic chronicle-writer of Budapest Gyula Krúdy (1878-1933). There had been kept even the mark of the hand of Vahot Imre editor of the Reformist Movement.

12. Attila út 8.

The most important period of László Németh’s (1901-1975) oeuvre and life belongs to this house, although he had also gone to a secondary school nearby. He moved here with his wife as a dentist in 1926 and stayed here till 1932.He became a writer at this place. He was awarded the Nyugat’s prize given for short stories in 1926. Here were born the series of literary history studies, a sociography and his oeuvre’s theoretical system.

13. Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute

1013 Budapest, Krisztina körút 57.

The Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute (OSZMI) is a modern information centre and research institute whose main mission is to provide the Hungarian and foreign public with a complex information service in the areas of theatre, ballet, dance, puppet theatre and other forms of the performing arts.

The Theatre Institute also conducts statistical surveys and analytical studies in the field of Hungarian theatre for the needs of specialists and public administrative bodies.

14. Attila út 11.

Church Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Earl István Széchenyi, the „greatest Hungarian”, according to Lajos Kossuth got married here in 1836. Although he imagined Hungary’s future within the Austrian Empire, he was the precursor of the Reformist Movement in the first half of the 19th century and became a minister in the first free-elected civil and democratic government in 1848. The Jewish-born István Vas (1910-1991) poet and translator got baptized and became Catholic here in 1938.

15. Alagút utca 3.

Cafe Philadelphia, now OTP-Bank Office Building

The Café Philadelphia is known as the regular hount of Dezs? Szabó (1879-1945), dynamic and bohemian representative of the romantic peasant myth, was opened for its guests between 1895 and 1945. Endre Ady was a regular guest here as well.

16. Attila út 43.

Pet?fi Sándor Gimnázium (Werb?czy F?reáliskola)

Attila József (1905-1937) graduated here in 1923.

17. Mikó utca 2.

Apart from Kassa (now Košice, Slovakia), Sándor Márai (1900-1989) never felt convenient and homelike nowhere but in the Castle District. Although he kept another house in the 2nd district Zápor utca „on any occasion”. He lived at Mikó utca between 1928 and 1945. He didn’t stay here during the Second World War. His wife, well-known at the neighborhood and surroundings, was originally Jewish, and was afraid of reporting her by anyone, so they moved to Leányfalu at the Danube Bend. Later, as an emigrant, he often spoke about the Mikó utca already as a symbol of the absent home, Budapest, Hungary although it was completely destroyed in the siege of Budapest. He commemorates it in his diary and his work Memoir of Hungary (1971).

18. Attila út 45.

Géza Ottlik (1912-1990) was born at the Castle District, at Lovas út. After a long evasive way he came back here in 1958. The first version of his great novel, School on the frontier (1959), the Továbbél?k (Survivors), was written in 1948, but got its final form here - it was published under the title School on the frontier. Ottlik was writing its twin-piece, the posthumous Buda at Attila út till his death. Ottlik is the one who continued the Nyugat traditions of the Post-war scene. He was the secretary of the Hungarian PEN-club between 1945 and 1957.

19. Lovas utca 18.

The Nyugat generation’s Aladár Schöplin (1872-1950), the literally historian-critic lived here between 1917 and 1931. The influential magazine published his articles from its start in 1908.

The street named by the village Logod, which had surrounded Buda in the Medieval Ages, was home for many modernist writers.

Mihály Babits (1883-1941) lived here for a short time with his wife. He moved to Logodi utca 31 in May 1940. He spent his time alternately in Esztergom or at his home in Budapest.

Dezs? Kosztolányi (1885-1936) and his wife had already been living here in Logodi utca between 1915 and 1917 when they found the small, romantic house at Tábor utca 12. The other gate to the garden opened on the Logodi utca. The little street entered literary history by one of the most beautiful Hungarian poems, Dawnstruck (1933). The famous psychological and social novel, the Anna Édes. (1926) is set at this part of Buda too The building was destroyed in the Second World War.

The poet Benedek Virág, „the Hungarian Horace” (1754-1830) the one century older ancestor had lived not far from Kosztolányi at Tabán. Kosztolányi wrote a beautiful poem in honour and respect of him. His modest home was the most important literary meeting point at the beginning of the19th century scene.

Béla Balázs (1884-1949) writer, poet, the world-famous warrior of film aesthetics lived at Logodi utca 85 with his brother, Ervin Bauer, the future husband of Margit Kaffka, who also belonged to the Nyugat. Ervin Bauer was a natural scientist and was executed by Stalin in a conceptual trial. Here were born the pieces (The Castle of Bluebeard, The wooden prince )by Béla Balázs, which later provided the basis for Bartók’s famous operas.

20. Attila út 103.

Here lived Mihály Babits, the central figure of the first generation of the Nyugat. He became the editor of the magazine which once had discovered him, too, in 1929 and kept this position till his death in 1941. He liked this environment, this part of Buda. He had writer- friends living in this area. Babits and his wife moved to the closed Logodi utca 31 from here. Babits became the main curator of the prestigious Baumgarten-prize, which included financial support, too, in 1929. This role and the position of the editor of Nyugat made Babits as a person a Literary Institution and power, therefore his house a Literary Center too.

21. Attila út 133. (Attila körút 95-99)

Babits lived here with his wife between 1931 and 1937. According to the memories of István Vas, he had his opening hours as an editor of Nyugat for young writers at his home. The family spent the summers at a holiday cottage they bought in Esztergom . Many writers, poets visited Esztergom, where a wall protected by glass preserves their signatures.

22. Vérmez?

The leaders of the Hungarian Jacobinian Movement were executed at „Generals’ Field” on the 20th May 1795. The Jacobinians were the followers of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution.

Route B:

Inner City Sites
(V. district with links)

1. Hungarian Parliament
1055 Budapest, Kossuth tér 1-3.

The Hungarian Houses of Parliament really are breathtaking from up close. The building is a curious mix of classical and medieval values: domed and symmetrical on the one hand, endowed with spires and other gothic (neogothic) elements on the other. Hungarians say that the Parliament is in the "Romantic style". The Hungarian Parliament Building (Hungarian: Országház) is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of the world's greatest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. It lies in Kossuth Lajos Square, right on the bank of the Danube.

2. Hungarian Television
1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 17.

Magyar Televízió (or Hungarian Television) is a Hungarian national public service television company, which operates two channels, called M1, M2. There is another public service channel, Duna TV, independent from MTV. Up until July 2002, when the government took over the payment of licence fees from members of the public, MTV was funded by the levying of a television licence on all households with a television set. As a result of the governments move, MTV's funding now comes from government grants and television commercials.

3. Nádor utca 22., Oszwald-house

It was built in 1846-47 and named after the proprietor. Later it was rebuilt, became a hotel. Th Pet?fi Society (Mór Jókai, Ferenc Herczeg (1863-1954)) held its general assemblies in a private room on the first floor. Endre Ady (1877-1919) met here several times with his love and muse, Léda. The periodical Nyugat ('The West'), the primary institution of the modern Hungarian literature has been established here in 1907.

4. Akadémia utca 1.

The building was built in 1835, in 1846 it was rebuilt into a magnificent inn named „Archduke Stephen Inn”. It played a major role in the 1848-49 war of independence, three ministries resided here. During this period an unsuccessful attempt has been committed on the life of general József Bem. Sándor Pet?fi (1823–1849) has presented himself for service. The inn appears in the novel The heartless man's sons from Mór Jókai (1825-1904).The famous table of Kálmán Mikszáth (1847-1910) was in the restaurant of the inn, in which a room was dedicated to Mikszáth. During the 20^th century it served as an office-block, the editorial office of the most influential samizdat Hungarian periodical, the Beszél? (1981-) acted here after 1990, as it could be published legally.

5. Roosevelt tér 9.

The residence of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, finished in 1865. The “Greatest Hungarian”, Count István Széchenyi (1791-1860) offered the income of a whole whole year for the establishment of the Academy at the parliament meeting in 1825. János Arany (1817–1882) was the secretary general of the Academy and he lived here with his family till his death. There are memorial rooms in the building (Museum of Széchenyi, Vörösmarty-room, Mikszáth-room). The Library of the Academy the stock of which comprises more then one million items is located behind the building.

6. Széchenyi Chain Bridge

The first stationary bridge on the river Danube in Hungary the history of which begins with the proposition of Count István Széchenyi in 1821. The construction lasted a decade from 1839. During the 1848-49 war of independence an austrian general attempted to blow it up, the story is depicted in the novel The heartless man's sons from Mór Jókai

The poem Consecration of the Bridge by János Arany (1817-1882) evokes the opening of the second oldest bridge, the Saint Margaret Bridge that can be seen clearly from the Chain Bridge. Gyula Krúdy (1878-1933) saw the bridge as a symbol for the renewal of Hungary.

7. Gresham Palace
1054 Budapest, V. kerület, Roosevelt tér 5-6.

The Gresham Palace site originally housed a neo-classic palace, the Nako House, which was built in 1827 by Antal Deron, a wholesale merchant, and was based on the design of Joseph Hild. In 1880 the Nako House became the possession of the Gresham Life Assurance Company, a British company founded in 1847. The company decided to build its foreign headquarters on this site and the Nako House was demolished in 1903. The present building was started in 1904 and completed in 1906, and was based on the designs of Zsigmond Quittner.

Some of the most famous artists and craftsmen of that era worked on the Gresham project. A few of the most notable people were: Géza Maroti - Sculptor, Architect, Painter, Ede Telcs - Sculptor, Miklos Ligeti - Sculptor, Ede Margo - Sculptor, Szigfrid Pongácz - Sculptor, Gyula Jungfer - Art Metal Worker, F. Jakab Kugler - Art Metal Worker, Miksa Roth - Glass Painter, Glass Mosaic Maker, Endre Thek - Furniture Maker, Vilmos Zsolnay - Ceramics.

Gresham Palace was originally built for the British aristocracy. At the turn of the century, Budapest was one of the more desired destinations for the European elite who came to Hungary to enjoy the joi de vivre, consisting of excellent cuisine, entertainment and occasional hunting expeditions in the adjoining hills surrounding Budapest. Budapest was also a convenient place for the British Royals to meet with their German, Austrian and Russian relatives. Budapest offered a more private destination and was not as politically charged as Vienna, Berlin or Moscow. Until World War II, Gresham Palace was the finest and most luxurious residence in Budapest.

8. József Attila utca 3.

It was built in 1825 in classical style. Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894) lived here for some years. On the ground-floor flourished the Kávéforrás Café ('Coffespring') until 1877. Writers, poets, editors and artists met here, among them Kálmán Mikszáth. In the 1840-s H. C. Andersen visited the café, he mentions it in his diary. To major comic papers of the age has been launched here (Bolond Miska, Borsszem Jankó).

9. St Stephen Cathedral
1051 Budapest, V. kerület, Szent István tér

Szent Istvan Bazilika - The Basilica, designed by architects Jude, Ybl and Kaiser in neo-renaissance style is the biggest Catholic church in Budapest. The Holy Right Hand, a relic of the founder of the Hungarian State, Saint Stephen (departed in 1038), is kept here.

10. Kossuth Lajos utca 3., Horváth-house

It was built in 1816 and named after the proprietor. In the building that stood here earlier worked an inn with a famous literary salon. Mihály Vörösmarty (1800-1855) lived in the Horváth-house for years, József Bajza (1804-1858) also lived here until his death. János Garay (1812-1853) wrote here the Obsitos, on which Zoltán Kodály’s (1882-1967) work Háry János is based. The famous Landerer és Heckenast press of vital historical importance worked here in which during the revolution of 1848 on the 15^th of March the revolutionist printed the Tizenkét pont (’12 Points’) and Pet?fi’s poem, the Nemzeti Dal (‘National Song’). From 1860 here flourished the Kammon Café, often visited by János Vajda (1827–1897), Jen? Komjáthy (1858–1895) and Gyula Reviczky (1855–1889).

11. Károlyi Mihály utca 9., Central Café

One of the most important cafés of the turn of the century, an institution of vital importance for Hungarian literature. It was opened in 1887, the redaction of the A Hét (the most important forum of the Hungarian literature before the Nyugat) worked here. The “Round Table” of József Kiss has been visited by the prominent authors of the time. The authors of the Nyugat had a table here eight years long from 1908 on, visited day by day by Dezs? Kosztolányi, Frigyes Karinthy, Ferenc Molnár, Mihály Babits. The sparkling atmosphere of the Central has been depicted in a number of literary works and diaries, among them in Tücsökzene (’Cricket Song’) by L?rinc Szabó (1900-1957).

12. Museum of Literature
1053 Budapest, Károlyi M. utca 16.
http://www.pim.hu/

In 1954, a Council of Ministers order founded the Museum of Literature Pet?fi with the aim of collecting and preserving records of Hungarian literature. The name of the Museum presented itself naturally, since the poesy of Sándor Pet?fi, who died young in the 1848–49 War of Independence, symbolises Hungarian poetry to the general reader both within and beyond the borders of the country. With the establishment of the new, national institution, an important consideration was that the Museum should – as the legal successor of the Pet?fi House, protector of the Pet?fi legacy – continue and, at the same time, operate on a new basis.
The task of the new, national museum was not only to process and preserve the inherited collections under modern conditions, but also to collect materials of museum value from contemporary Hungarian literature. Acquisition is generally characterised by conscious, scholarly-founded, ideology-free expansion. Even today we work hard so that the writers’ and poets’ legacies, correspondence, libraries, sound and video recordings, photographs, furniture, personal belongings, etc., the documents of the editorial offices of literary periodicals and literary-type publishing houses – that is, the representatives of Hungarian literature both within and beyond the borders – should become part of our collection.

13. Veres Pálné utca 4-6., Ady Museum

Endre Ady (1877-1919)lived in this flat from 1917 till his death. The flat was given to the poet and his wife and muse, Csinszka, from Ady’s father-in-law. The flat using original furniture and objects was formed into a memorial museum in 1977, on the centenary of the poet’s birth. On the wall of the house and in the doorway memorial tablet and a relief depicting the poet has been placed.

14. Ferenciek tér 7-8., Kárpátia Restaurant

Functional from 1877, since 1934 under the name Kárpátia. The inner architecture resembles the Hungarian Gothic, the style and atmosphere evoked by the Parliament building. The walls are covered by battle-pieces and heroic genre paintings in romantic style. A comic scene of the novel Celestial Harmonies by Péter Esterházy (1950-) plays here. The family of noble roots dine here for “restaurant coupons” left behind by the Western relatives visited Budapest earlier. These coupons should be used only by foreigners, so the Hungarian family pretends to be German. The novel was published also in English achieving great success.

Route C:

Places in the sixth district

(6^th district)

1. H?sök tere (Heroes Square)

The construction of the Millenary Monument was begun in 1896, the thousandth anniversary of the Conquest of the country by the Hungarians. It was designed by the architect Albert Schickedanz and the sculptor György Zala. The centre of the monument is a 36-metre (160 ft.) high column with a winged genius on top and the statues of the conquering Magyar chief Árpád and of the chiefs of the other six tribes on the pedestal. Behind these there is a semicircular colonnade with the statues of the most outstanding Hungarian kings, princes and commanders between the columns. From left to right: St. Stephen, the founder of the State, Ladislas I, Coloman, Andrew II and Béla IV, kings of the House of Árpád; Charles Robert and Louis I known as the Great of the Angevin dynasty; János Hunyadi, the hero of the wars against the Turks, and King Matthias; then Gábor Bethlen, István Bocskai, Imre Thököly and Ferenc Rákóczi II, princes of Transylvania, and finally Lajos Kossuth, the leader of the 1848-49 War of Independence. Below the bronze statues relieves commemorate historic events. On top of the semicircle there are four symbolic statues: Work and Wealth on the left, two chariots, depicting War and Peace, in the centre, and Honour and Glory on the right.

2. Museum of Fine Arts

1146 Budapest, XIV. kerület, Dózsa György út 41.

The millenary session of the Hungarian Parliament in 1896 passed a law whereby art collections previously held in different institutions were to be unified and placed in the newly-established Museum of Fine Arts.

On the basis of a competitive tender, Albert Schickendanz and Fülöp Herzog were commissioned to design and construct the building, which opened in 1906. The gallery displaying original paintings was placed in the first floor halls of the neo-classical building; however, only plaster casts were available to illustrate a complete history of European sculpture. It was for these life-size copy sculptures that the Doric, Ionic, Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque halls on the ground floor were designed, imitating the styles of individual periods of art history. However, as the number of original works increased, so the plaster sculptures were forced out of the building (the only one remaining, a copy of the group in the pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia, can be seen on the tympanum above the Museum’s main entrance), and the ground floor galleries are now also used to display original works of art. On the ground floor are the exhibitions of the Classical Antiquities and of 19th century paintings and sculptures; the Renaissance hall, where in addition to Renaissance frescoes and fountains items from the Sculpture Collection may be seen; the Prints and Drawings Gallery with temporary exhibitions; and the Marble and Baroque halls.

Due to the continuous renovation work on the building, individual permanent exhibitions of the Old Masters’ Gallery may temporarily be moved.

3. M?csarnok

1146 Budapest Dózsa György út 37

The M?csarnok (“Art Hall”) was founded in 1877 on the initiative of the Hungarian National Fine Arts Association. The original building was situated at 69–71 Andrássy Street, now home to the University of Fine Arts. The exhibition hall on Heroes’ Square was erected in 1896 for the millennium celebrations, and was designed by Albert Schikedanz. Today the hall operates on the pattern of the German Kunsthalle: it is an institution run by artists that does not maintain its own collection. The three-bayed, semi-circular apse houses a roofed exhibition hall that allows in light through the roof. Since the building was renovated in 1995 the M?csarnok has welcomed visitors and leading Hungarian and international contemporary artists alike, mediating and representing modern artistic tendencies whilst not maintaining its own permanent collection. Government partner: Ministry of Education and Culture.

4. Benczúr utca 47., The ex- Liget Sanatorium

In this building there was treated one of the weirdest creators of the beginning of the century, the doctor, writer, music aesthete, critical Géza Csáth (1887- 1919) who treated himself with morphine and dealt with insane. From his short stories János Szász film director made more internationally well- known adaptations. Endre Ady (1877- 1919) poet, journalist died here in 1919 who brought the poetic and social revolution at the beginning of the 20th century. He was the creator of the Hungarian symbolism and an epoch- making poet also.

5. Andrássy út

(Previously Maurer Grasse, Sugár Road, Andrássy Road, Stalin Road, Magyar Ifjúság Road, Népköztársaság Road)

This is not a certain adress, but a street itself. It was built at the end of the 19th century for the 1000 anniversary of Hungary, the Millennium. As you will see a lot of literary memory places are on this avenue or thereabouts.

6. Andrássy út 112., The ex- Young Artist’s Club, today KOGART House

In the 1960s here was encountered a legendary cultural institution, the Young Artist’s Club, which made room for the experimental programmes circumventing the alertness of the educational policy and exploiting that the leadership did not want to come up against the new generation. With the change of regime it lost its function, it did not have a real owner. The estate of the former really elegant palace strongly depreciated. Not even a decade ago a private collector and backer, Gábor Kovács bought it and renewed the building. From that time it has given place to exhibitions.

7. Bajza utca 39., Feszty (Jókai and Pet?fi House)

The Pet?fi House came into existence in 1909, and the relics of Sándor Pet?fi (1823- 1849), like his furniture, clothes, manuscripts, portraits and family files established the collection of the later „Pet?fi Literary Museum”. Mór Jókai (1825- 1904) was living in the building with Fesztys also, who was the friend of Pet?fi and also the chairman of the Pet?fi Society.

8. Bajza utca 18., The Hall of the Writers’ Association

The Hungarian Writers’ Association was set in 1945. Until the change of regime, the political turn in 1989/90 it was almost the only, representative and in one a literary organization which was strictly controlled by policy.

9. Bajnok utca 2/b., The home of László Németh (from 1905 to 1917)

László Németh (1901- 1975) writer, essayist, literary translator. He belongs to the so-called folk writers, but he always had a sovereign opinion. He had a doctor’s certificate, but he wanted to be the doctor of the society.

10. Szív utca 16., The birthplace of Arthur Koestler

Arthur Koestler (1905- London, 1983) was a Jewish journalist and writer who had a very interesting life. He was a Hungarian citizen until the middle of the 1940s. He got in touch with the Zionist movement during his studies in Vienna, in 1926 he moved to Palestine, and he worked as a correspondent to one of the biggest German media companies, the Ullstein. He had a very good relationship with Attila József.

11. The House of Terror

1062 Budapest, VI. kerület, Andrássy út 60.

Having survived two terror regimes, it was felt that the time had come for Hungary to erect a fitting memorial to the victims, and at the same time to present a picture of what life was like for Hungarians in those times.

In December 2000 "The Public Foundation for the Research of Central and East European History and Society" purchased the building with the aim of establishing a museum in order to present these two bloody periods of Hungarian history. Dr. Mária Schmidt is the Director-General of the House of Terror Museum, which was completed in February 2002.

During the year-long construction work, the building on 60 Andrássy Avenue was fully renovated inside and out. The internal design, the final look of the museum´s exhibition and the external facade are the works of architect Attila F. Kovács. The reconstruction plans for the House of Terror Museum were designed by architects János Sándor and Kálmán Újszászy; the contractor was Architecton Share Co. The background music to the exhibition was composed by Ákos Kovács. The work with a timeless scoring for string orchestra in multiple movements goes well with the historical theme of the museum´s exhibition and contains special stereophonic mixes and sound effects.

During the reconstruction, the building has turned into a monument; the black passepartout (the decoration entablature, the blade walls and the granite sidewalk) provides a frame for the Museum, causing it to stand out by its sharp contrast to the other buildings on Andrássy street, and befitting its historic significance, focuses attention on the house itself.

Opened on February 24th, 2002 at 5 pm, the House of Terror Museum - the only one of its kind - is a monument to the memory of those held captive, tortured and killed in this building. The Museum, while presenting the horrors in a tangible way, also intends to make people understand that the sacrifice for freedom was not in vain. Ultimately, the fight against the two cruellest systems of the 20th century ended with the victory of the forces of freedom and independence.

12. Oktogon 2., Abbázia Café

The café, which was founded in 1888, is maintained by a memorial tablet today. Until the end of the ’30s the Abbázia was one of the most frequented cafés in Budapest. It was the haunt of painters and sculptors, the Hungarian impressionist poets started a society here.

Among the political table societies there was the most famous group led by Károly Eötvös.

13. Liszt Ferenc tér 2., Vázsonyi-House

Vilmos Vázsonyi (1868- 1926) was a lawyer, liberal, legitimist politician, and a minister of justice in 1917/18.

14. Liszt Ferenc tér 8., Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music

It is one of the the centres of the Hungarian musical life, and the centre of the academic musician training. The idea of the training was conceived in the year of establishing Budapest when the three parts of the city were unified in 1873. Ferenc Liszt lived to see the existence of the institution. The Art Nouveau building was ready in 1907, according to the plans of Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl. Between the two World Wars there were regularly held literary poetry recitals, and the periodical called Nyugat organized some evenings here also.

15. Andrássy út 45., previously Japan Café, for many years „Írók Boltja”

The café was founded in the 1890s. It has got its name from its fancy glazed titles which fit to the taste of the end of the century with their mikado and geisha- cult. It was in the prime of its life between 1928 and 1942, it played the same role in the capital, as the „Rotonde” or „Dome” did in Paris. Its famous table societies consisted of journalists, writers, artists, actors, humorists, and the representatives of the bohemia in Pest. The café was the favourite place of the writers from the ’20s. It was visited by Lajos Kassák, Ern? Szép, Lajos Nagy, Józsi Jen? Tersánszky, Sándor Bródy and Attila József in the afternoons.

16. Hajós Street 1., The home of János Pilinszky

János Pilinszky (1921- 1981) poet, writer. In the autumn of 1944 he was conscripted, and in that way he got into Harbach at the end of the war, where he met the horror of the concentration camps. He was a catholic poet, his world view shows similarity with the existentialism also. His poetry shows similarity with the greats of the periodical called Nyugat and Attila József also.

17. Opera House

1061 Budapest, Andrássy út 22.

This magnificent new-Renaissance style structure, completed in 1884 and modeled after the Vienna Opera House, is home to both the State Opera and the State Ballet.

18. Andrássy út 10., 16., The parlors of the Singer and Wolfner Publisher

From 1880 the Singer and Wolfner was one of the biggest publishing houses. It published not only books, but popular weekly prints and periodicals, mainly for the little bit more conservative layers. The publisher’s „home author” was Kálmán Mikszáth (1847- 1910) writer, journalist and Ferenc Herczeg (1863- 1954) also.

Route D:

Places in the seventh district

(VII. District)

1. Synagogue of Dohány Street
1074 Budapest, VII. kerület, Dohány utca 2.

The Great Synagogue in Dohány Street, also known as the Dohány Synagogue, or the Tabac-Schul, the Yiddish translation of dohány (tobacco), after the Hungarian name of the street, is located in Belváros, the inner city of Pest, in the eastern section of Budapest. It was built between 1854-1859 by the Neolog Jewish community of Pest according to the plans of the Viennese architect Ludwig Foerster. The synagogue neighbors a major Budapest thoroughfare expressing the optimism and the newly elevated status of the Hungarian Jews in the mid years of the 19th century.

2. Rákóczi út 2., “Határ Gy?z?- Towerflat”

This literary memorial, on the top floor of the building , has not been canonized yet. After 1945 Gy?z? Határ (1914- 2006)architect lived here for a few years, who was one of the greatest weirdos of the Hungarian prose, and who left the country in 1956 and lived in England until his death. He was vexed for his many works, and in 1943 he was convicted for high treason. The flat was directly next to the huge working clock which was so loud then. On the terrace there were usually meeting the young poets, the so-called “newmoons”. It was a huge, enviable flat and it was noticed by one of the era’s communist politics, who was in the Peasants’ Party, and he wanted to exchange it with the writer.

3. Rákóczi út 54., the ex- Athenaeum House

Behind the building there was maybe the hugest press empire, the printing houseblock of the Est- holding company which has been torn down recently. This building advertised the newspapers of the holding company, the Est, the Pesti Napló and the Magyarország. In these editorial offices there were firstly used the telephones to transmit the news. In an other building of the block there worked the Athenaeum Publisher also. Opposite, looking from here there stands the renewed New York Palace at the other end of the house block. Essentially, the hugest literary and press– complex of the capital worked here.

4. Elisabeth körút 9/11., New York Café

It was built by the request of the New York Insurance Company. Its designer was Lajos Hauszmann, and his servants were Flóris Korb and Aladár Giergl who played a role in the architecture of the city by designing the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music also. It was the haunt of the literary world and bohemia. In the so-called „deep end” which was situated in the middle and below a half floor there was a billiard-room, where there sat the writers too, and the name of the place has become a legend. One of the favourite-tables of the periodical called Nyugat also stood here. After the World War II it was crippled, intentionally, because the political leadership wanted to oversee the areas of the social life. It followed a trade as a sports-shop, travel agency and clothes shop also, of course its setting was covered. It opened again in 1954, but it had to change its name: it became „Hungaria”. The building above it ran as the biggest editorial and publisher office, so the writers returned. Several stories and anecdotes have immortalized its atmosphere.

5. Barcsay utca 5., Madách Secondary School

In 1881 Ágoston Trefort, the minister of education let the school, the first state secondary school work “experimentally”. It moved to the recent building in 1892. Looking back from today it is surprising that the teachers broke the peace a lot, because of the contemporary noisy building operations, they said that the Elisabeth-city was too loud, and the area of the Boulevard was regarded unworthy as a place of education. Zsolt Beöthy (1848- 1922) literary historian, Dezs? Malonyai (1866- 1916) ethnographer taught here, and inter alia Donát Bánki the inventor of the carburetor, Alfréd Hajós the first Hungarian olimpic champion (1896) swimmer and famous architect at the same time, István Sz?nyi painter, Miklós Radnóti poet and literary translator who died a martyr’s death learned here also. From its students there was Frigyes Karinthy (1887- 1938) who made it world-famous with his humorous short stories called “Please sir”.

6. Elisabeth körút 49., Grand Hotel Royal

The luxurious Hotel Royal which was built in the style of the French Renaissance opened on the occasion of the Millennium Exhibition in 1896. Here were the first screenings of the Lumiere Brothers’ films in Hungary, and as the cinema was demanded more and more by the audience of the capital, there was developed a new saloon with this intention, and here worked the so-called Royal Apollo which was one of the favourite projection rooms. There were regularly held classical music concerts in the ballroom, Béla Bartók conducted here several times. The guestbook of the hotel hasn’t been lost during the storms of the history yet. According to it, for example Josephine Baker, Max Reinhardt, Asta Nilsen, Fjodor Saljapin, Renata Scotto and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf encountered here.

7. Király utca 47., Pekáry- House

It is a three-floor corner house in the style of neogothic and romanticism which was built in 1847/48. It has got its name from its first owner, an urban police vice-captain. At the end of the 19^th century there were lived Jewish people, and even a house of worship worked upstairs. It is a strange building, it has some symbols of the Judaism, and it bears the mark of the ancient Hungarian valiants with their swords and shields. In 1899 Gyula Krúdy (1878- 1933) writer, who was one of the romantic chroniclers of the city, outstanding and mysterious writer of the Hungarian prose moved here.

8. Hevesi Sándor tér 4., Hungarian Theatre or National Theatre

The predecessor of the recent building was opened in 1897. Then it was a theatre with light entertainment and music. But ten years later it was the home of the modern theatre, and there were shown the plays of Gorkij, Ibsen and Shaw. Max Reinhardt also directed here. In the January of 1935 Thomas Mann read out here and Attila József wrote his antifascist poem with the title of “Welcome to Thomas Mann” for this occasion. Many illustrious acting companies whose theatres were under construction played here. From 1966, after the explosion of the National Theatre’s building in the Blaha Lujza Square, the educational policy marked this theatre as a representative function.

9. Városliget fasor 19-21., Fasor Evangelical Secondary School

The Patent of Toleration of Austrian Emperor and Hungarian King Joseph II let the Agostian Evangelical believers establish a primary school in 1789. The secondary school moved to its recent place from the heart of the downtown in 1905. At the turn of the century it already had a reputation in teaching of philology, philosophy and mathematics. Here and in the previous building there graduated György Lukács (1885- 1971) Hungarian philosopher, building an aesthetic and ontological system, he was well-known all over Europe. From here there started the so-called “martians” , leaving Europe finally, the Hungarian scientists who were forced to go to American emigration, like Leó Szilárd (1898- 1964) who firstly recognized the nuclear chain-reaction, Ede Teller (1908- 2003) atomic physicist who is the inventor of the atomic bomb, and one of the fathers of the computer, János Neumann (1903- 1957) who created enduring in the games theory.

Route E:

Sights in the Eighth District

(VII. District)

1.) Urania, National Film Theatre

1088 Budapest Rákóczi u. 21.

The cinema compounds the gothic style of Venice and that of the eastern moors. After the resurrection we were expanded with 2 halls, so together with the imposing banqueting-hall 550 seats await the Uránia-Lovers.

2.) 17 Bródy Sándor utca

Mór Jókai (1825-1904), the most productive and most widely read novelist of all time in Hungary moved here in 1887. His oeuvre consists of more than one hundred novels. The Baron’s sons and Modern Midas are well-known and admired throughout the world.

Not long after he moved out from the house Gyula Krúdy (1878-1933) settled in. An admirer of Budapest was the chronicler of the local middle-class spirit with absorbing faithfulness. He was an urban icon whose historical and artistic self infiltrated every corner of the city. His novel The Crimson Coach is particularly eloquent in this regard.

3.) 18-20 Bródy Sándor utca

The namesake of the street, the great Hungarian novelist and dramatist Sándor Bródy (1863-1924) lived here. The creator of Hungarian naturalism also proved a great journalist of his time. His articles of enduring quality were published in Budapesti Hírlap and A Hét and later became the main features of many contemporary journals. As an editor he created an independent genre publishing annually the so-called White Book, a single-person almanac with his reflections on a wide range of matters.

4.) 23 Szentkirályi utca

Here lived József Katona (1791-1830) author of the national drama Bánk bán, which was the opening play of the Hungarian Theatre in Pest.

The original building was demolished in 1910 but on the walls of the newly erected one a memorial tablet reminds of the famous resident of the house. Some say that Bánk bán’s initial idea was conceived here.

5.) 5-7 Bródy Sándor utca, building of the National Radio

The building is of both historical and literary significance it was an important scene of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, where the first armed conflicts broke out on 23 October 1956, assuming many civilian lives. The street as well as the building appears in the motion picture Children of Glory, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the revolution.

The novelist and translator László Németh (1901-1975) was the leader of the institution’s literary office with main correspondents Emil Grandpierre Kolozsvári (1907-1992) and László Cs. Szabó (1905-1984) who emigrated to England in 1948. He belonged to the few who resigned from his position as a protest against the German occupation.

6.) 14-16 Múzeum körút, Museum Garden, Museum Stairs

According to collective memory in the beginning of the 1848-49 Revolution on March 15 it was on the stairs of the Museum that Sándor Pet?fi (1823-1849) the romantic poet and the symbolic figure in the history and literature of the Reform Age performed his famous poem National Song. He sacrificed his life for freedom and died in the battle of Segesvár quite as a fulfillment of the promise written in his poems.

Walking in the Museum garden we can see many statues of prominent Hungarian writers such as the poet Dániel Berzsenyi’s (1776-1836) or Ferenc Kazinczy’s (1759-1831), who was a central figure of the first literary circles in the age of Enlightenment. János Arany (1817-1882), a good friend of Pet?fi’s and the first to incorporate Hungarian folklore in his works. For a period of time Arany was the director general of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

On 29 January 1919 the catafalque of the famous poet Endre Ady (1877-1919) was displayed in the Museum’s hall. Mourning speeches were held by Mihály Babits (1883-1941) and Zsigmond Móricz (1879-1942) authors and later editors of the journal Nyugat. Ady’s funeral grew to be a protest of modernism.

At the triple crossing of Múzeum Street, Baross Street and Kálvin Square – Two Pistols Café and Inn

A place of bad reputation Two Pistols Inn was one of Sándor Pet?fi’s favorites. It was not only a scene of a then popular gothic novel but it also appears in many other literary works. The building was gradually ruining until the end of the 19th century when it was demolished.

7.) 1 Mikszáth Kálmán tér

Kálmán Mikszáth (1847-1910) is one of the most popular 19th century Hungarian novelists. His vision erupted from the inside creating a realistic as well as anecdotic world. This is the house where he spent the last years of his life. The square was named after him in his life, something that no other writer can ascribe to his or her name in the capital.

Between the walls of the Piarist Gymnasium studied many of our literary talents such as the national dramatist József Katona (1791-1830), Sándor Pet?fi (1823-1849) the torch-bearer of freedom, Antal Szerb (1901-1945) the tireless explorer of the depths of the human soul, the poet János Pilinszky and Péter Esterházy (1950), probably the most well-known Hungarian contemporary writer abroad.

8.) Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library

1088 Budapest, VIII. kerület, Szabó Ervin tér 1.

The Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library, established in 1904, provides the services of the public library network for the inhabitants in Budapest. The Central Library meets the requirements of a city public library, takes part in national and international research works and serves as a national resource library in sociology. It helps the organized - and self-study regardless of age and fields of interest. Information-technology is widely used in its services. District branch libraries are the basic institutions of the metropolitan public library network. Their collections are developed by the rules of acquisition concerning their categories. There are some organizational units which are controlled together by the branch libraries of more than one district. They are the so called regions which fulfil their professional tasks; with partial centralization but they manage their budget semi-independently.
Hungarian Radio.9.) 46 Mária utca

At the crossing of Pál Street and Mária Street once stood an empty parcel the „grund”, the favourite playground of a nearby school’s pupils. With a gang of their rivals also claiming possession of the territory the boys fought for their right and the bravest of them, the little Nemecsek raised from his sickbed to defend the cause, for which he gave his life. But he fought all in vain. Meanwhile the parcel was sold and the current building was erected in its place.

10.) 52 Baross utcaThe great Hungarian poet, novelist, translator and journalist Dezs? Kosztolányi (1885-1936) rented a flat on the second floor of this building after he left Üll?i street, the famous avenue of the neighborhood. He was a pivotal figure in the first generation of Nyugat, the journal that defined Hungarian literature and literary criticism up to this day.11.) 98 Baross utca

Jókai Mór the „great storyteller” (1825–1904) bought this yellow house in. With his wife here he created a rustic environment, a real mansion-like experience. They lived here together more for more than a decade. One time Franz Liszt was also their guest.

12.) 25 Illés utca

Ferenc Molnár (1878–1952) is one of the worldwide known 20th century Hungarian novelists and dramatists. Theplot of his famous youth novel No Greater Glory takes place here in the Museum Garden where the teenager protagonists play their games and fight for the ground, as a symbolic expression of patriotism and honor. The novel has been translated to more than two dozen languages and it has become one of the compulsory readings in many countries.

By its address alone, nobody would know the place. But whenever Botanical Garden is mentioned in Hungary, people realize it is a famous location from the novel No Greater Glory. It was here where the gang of Pál Street eventually overheard the mischievous plan against them and where the novel’s young protagonist fell into a pool of water to catch a cold and later die of fatal pneumonia.

When Nagyszombat University and its large botanical collection relocated first to Buda and some time after to Pest, the building gave home to the first botanical garden in Hungary. The country’s medical university was also founded here. Its characteristic glamour has faded with time and is hardly visible today, with the late Festetics-cottage being in a similarly poor condition.

13.) Holocaust Memorial Center

H-1094 Budapest, Páva u. 39.

Therefore the principal mission of the Holocaust Documentation Center and Memorial Collection Public Foundation (founded in 2002 by the Hungarian government) and the Holocaust Memorial Center is to serve this objective.

Basic tasks of the Holocaust Memorial Center:

- to present the Holocaust

- to collect and study materials related to the history of the Holocaust in Hungary

- to integrate the Holocaust into the curriculum of Hungarian schools

- to honor the victims of the Holocaust