Budapest 150

2024.05.08. 10:59

We celebrate the birthday of our capital on this day every year, as Pest, Buda and Óbuda were united on 17 November 1873. Of course, we haven't forgotten the celebrated one either, we've put together a collection of our previous virtual exhibitions related to Budapest, so we wish you a very happy 150th birthday, Budapest!

Our earliest Budapest-related exhibitions

Demolished memories, lost buildings - Budapest

Let's discover which was the city's most expensive building and why, what buildings replaced the hotels on the Danube bank in Pest, how the busiest or most important meeting places for Pest residents - Deák Ferenc Square, Blaha Lujza Square or Kálvin Square - were transformed, and why the City Hall and one of Buda's most residential areas were demolished.

Latest exhibition, featuring a Budapest restaurant

Legendary Restaurants - Apostolok

Is it profanity that the first thing many people think of when they think of the Apostles is not twelve men, but a restaurant in Budapest? Maybe. The Apostolok restaurant and pub may be a profane place, but there was something sublime about it. Perhaps it was the pious apostles depicted above the dim booths of the restaurant that made you feel as if you had entered a chapel, where even the beer was being served in a solemn atmosphere. The first in our series (Legendary Restaurants), it is still in operation today, albeit co-tenanted with another legend, the Jégbüfé.

Our readers' favourites

Once and now; a walk in the Buda Castle

Most of the houses in the Buda Castle district are built on medieval foundations, but today only a few arches and seating booths remind us of this. When Buda returned to Christian hands after 145 long years, few of the houses and churches in the quarter, which had been under constant cannon fire, remained intact. In the Castle District, the street names are even more evocative than the ruins, such as the inviting Balta Street or Fortuna Street.

Semmelweis's Hospital

The first public hospital in Pest, the Rókus

Health care institutions have been present in Pest for centuries, but it was only with the opening of the St. Rókus Hospital that, which emphasised healing rather than care and separation, became available to citizens. Initially a poorhouse, the institution is associated with many important milestones in Hungarian health care: it played an important role during the plague and cholera epidemics of the 18th and 19th centuries, Ferenc Flór and Ignác Semmelweis worked here, and at the turn of the century X-rays were already used in diagnostics.

Gothic Revival in the capital city

In Gothic mood in Budapest

The architects of the old-style buildings in Budapest at the turn of the century, which were considered outdated, may not have imagined that their creations would become emblematic symbols of the city, attracting tourists from all over the world. Many of our Gothic buildings, such as the Parliament House, were not built in the Gothic period, and were very much behind the Neo-Gothic period.

Twins in the middle of the city

Kotild Palaces

Ferenciek Square owes its present form to the regulation of the centre of Pest, but even more so to the construction of the Elisabeth Bridge. It is unfortunate that the narrow, winding little streets, the old Pest City Hall and the many shops of Kígyó tér have also fallen victim to such a grand plan. But the bridge needed a road to carry traffic across it. This is how the square, which was the structural centre of the capital, changed its appearance at the turn of the century, and how new buildings such as the Klotild Palaces, which still dominate the square today, were built.

Budapest's birthday party runs from 17-19 November. The Municipality of Budapest is preparing a series of events, including the opening of the City Hall Courtyard and the reopening of the Merlin Theatre.

For more information on the programmes, please visit enbudapestem.hu

Digital Archive Development Department

translated by László Gönczi

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At the café - better than being at home

Espresso, double espresso, long coffee, cappuccino, ristretto, mocha, macchiato, melange, café au lait, Irish, Turkish, coffee with milk, with ice or whipped cream. With or without sugar. In the morning, at noon, in the evening. At home, in a street, on a veranda, on a terrace, during work or during a break, in a real cup or paper cup, from the corridor machine or at a boulevard café, in any seasons; coffee. One cup of perfect coffee demands 7 grams of ground coffee. But what kind of demand lay behind going to the café at the turn of the century?

Under the open sky of Pest - on the plain side of Budapest

Last week we visited the former garden-restaurants, terraces and taverns of Buda and gained some insight into where the celebrities of the era, the middle-class citizens longing for amusement, or the members of aristocracy went out if they wanted to have a rest with a drink after a trip, or to have a good meal. Let’s see what happened meanwhile on the other side, in the shadows of plane trees and parks.

Klotild Palaces

Ferenciek Square owes its present form to the regulation of downtown Pest, but even more so to the construction of the Erzsébet Bridge. It is unfortunate that the narrow, winding little streets, the old city hall of Pest and many shops on Kígyó Square also fell victim to such a large-scale plan. However, the bridge needed a road to divert traffic to it. This is how the image of the square, which is the structural centre of the capital, changed at the turn of the century, and so new buildings were born, such as the Klotild palaces that still dominate the square.

Walking in Buda Castle

The Buda Castle District was demolished twice, and its appearance changed accordingly. Chapels were transformed into multi-nave churches, which later became mosques and were replaced by Christian churches again. The majority of the buildings are based on medieval foundations, but today only a few arches and niches are left to remind us of this. When Buda returned to Christian hands after 145 long years, few of the houses and churches in the quarter, which had been under constant cannon fire, remained intact. This week, we invite you to discover the talking streets of the Castle District.

Miklós Ybl, the capital-letter master of historicism

Miklós Ybl is the most influential Hungarian master architect of the 19th century, who excelled with his talent since his youth. As a renowned architect, he exceeded his contemporaries with his extraordinary working capacity. He did not only work as a manager in his office, but also carried out, or at least supervised, almost all phases of the planning himself. The richness of genre of Ybl’s oeuvre shows how versatile creator he was. From tenement houses of Pest to the Opera House building and to the large-scale complex of the Castle Garden Bazaar, the image of Budapest is still defined by the greatest part of his work. In our latest selection, we pay tribute to his oeuvre.

Once and now; a walk in the Buda Castle

The Buda Castle is our emblematic building. During its stirring history, it was under siege at least as many years as it was left abandoned and ruined. Renovations and reconstructions, enlargements and breakdowns formed it to its present shape, which is owing to the reconstruction from the 1960s to 1985. We do not want to make judgements or answer architectural historic questions. This week’s ‘once and now’ selection is about the demolished, transformed or miraculously saved parts of the palace complex. Have a nice browsing!

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