Hungarian Parliament

In 1848 Míhaly Vörösmarty, one of the greatest Hungarian poets, wrote, “The motherland does not have a home.” Indeed, for thousands of years, Hungary had no need of a home. The nobles and the kings and queens took the law with them wherever they went. A national home was aristocratically epitomized by the palace, or by the fortress walls of the citadel. But, this was not to match the rising tide of the Hungarian people, and the social changes of the industrial revolution saw the nobility gradually join with the millions of the lower classes to make a nation, concentrated in the spirit of the Revolution of 1849 against Hapsburg dominance. In the aftermath of the revolution, the convening Diet finally legislated a Parliament building, to encompass the spirit of Hungary, the noble and the peasant, the tradesman and the cleric, but all of them free. Parliament would rise in Pest, symbolizing the rising democracy of the middle and lower classes, free from the yokes of the royalty looking down from the palace in Buda.

Ground was broken on October 12, 1885, on the quay at Tömõ in the Lipót district. Over 17 years an average of 1,000 workers labored on it daily. Some materials were dragged clear across the country to supply the project. Entire industries blossomed to supply construction. Enormous amounts of earth were moved to make way for 40 million bricks and over half a million ornamental stones that were carved into decorations for the building. Unfortunately a soft limestone was often used, which needs constant restoration or replacement.

Parliament itself encroaches on the Danube, with a foundation wall seven feet thick. It is 300 yards long and as much as 140 yards wide. Inside are 10 courts, 27 gates, 29 staircases and endless hallways. The graceful, thin white Gothic pinnacles that crown its shape are known throughout Europe. There are 88 statues depicting great Hungarian leaders adorning the exterior. But the exterior is totally eclipsed by the gilded and marbled interior, filled with extraordinary murals, paintings, statues, and ornately crafted floors, walls, and windows. The focus of the building is the Hungarian crown, inside a glass case, which lies beneath the 82-foot cathedral-like dome. Statues of kings surround it.

The spectacular entry stairs, bordered with imported marble columns, run nearly the full width of the hallway. They could not find the proper stone in Hungary, so the rose-colored pillars were excavated from a mountain in Sweden. Each one soars 18 feet and weighs four tons. The elegance and grandeur are heightened by the nearly 88 lbs of 22 to 26 karat gold used in adornment.

Kossuth Lajos tér

The front steps of Parliament spill onto Kossuth Lajos tér, probably the most famous square in Hungary. In 1996 one of several eternal flames was erected in front of Parliament. Dedicated to those who died in the 1956 revolution, it is overlooked by the statue of Imre Nagy at a modest distance, the former leader who tried to liberalize communism. Imre Nagy took refuge in the Yugoslav embassy following the crushing invasion of the Soviet Army into Budapest. He was lured out on the promise that he would be given free passage, but he was promptly arrested the moment he left embassy grounds. Kossuth Lajos tér itself is named after the famous revolutionary war leader, whose statue is prominent in the square, the work of the great Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl.

Farther north in a small park stands the drooping figure of Mihály Károly under a broken arch, a memory to his brief leadership in that brief moment of history when there was a democratic parliament before WWI. In the see-saw of war and politics, he escaped to Paris when Béla Kun’s Council Republic took power in 1919. Although he was named as Hungarian ambassador to France, his criticism of the Stalinist show trials led to his rejection and he was buried in disrepute. The communists exhumed him in 1962, however, to rebury him in Kerepesi cemetery. Attila József, the great Hungarian poet, broods farther south, his eyes looking out over the Danube. At age 32 he threw himself in front of an oncoming train. His ignominious death in 1937 was a political protest against the evolving authoritarian rule that was laying the groundwork for Nazism in pre-WWII Hungary. He despaired to see Hungary turn from her vision of a free country. At the opposite end of the square an equestrian statue of Ferenc Rákóczi II, the Prince of Transylvania looks down on the square. Rákóczi led the heroic war for Independence from 1703 to 1711, and ever since the uprising has been called the Rákóczi Revolution. Ballads and songs have honored its memory as one of the most glorious periods of Hungarian history. The famous Rákóczi March has two variations, one by Liszt and one by Berlioz, both written in his honor and in the name of the revolution.

Néprajzi Múzeum (Ethnographic Museum)

The Néprajzi Múzeum (Ethnographic Museum) stands across from Parliament, once the home of the Palace of Justice. A careful eye may notice the resemblance to the Berlin Reichstag. The building was the second-place finisher in the design for Parliament in 1888. It is notably topped by the statue of Justice riding her carriage drawn by three straining steeds. Designed by Alajos Hauszmann, its breathtaking interior with red and black marble pillars, topped by gold Corinthian leaves, white stairways, stained glass windows, and Károly Lotz’s extraordinary ceiling painting, blend to make a delightful tour on its own. Across from this building is the Agriculture Ministry, the third-place runner up in the competition of 1888, which, however, is now strictly for official administrative offices.

From Lajos tér, take a stroll up Alkotmány utca to Hold utca and make a right turn. At the juncture of Báthory utca, in the middle of the square is the eternal flame, in memory of Lajos Batthyány, Prime Minister of the short-lived government of 1848-49. After the Hapsburgs finally suppressed the brief cry of freedom in Hungary, they took Lajos Batthyány to this very spot and executed him by firing squad. At the time it was the corner of a sprawling Hapsburg military barracks, a symbol of Austrian dominance, built by the orders of Emperor Joseph II in 1786, a symbol of the centralization of Hapsburg power. It was known then as The New Building. However it was torn down and buried with its old memories in 1897. The small series of streets and buildings between here and Szabadság tér were all erected over its ruins. It might be said that Batthyány’s spirit lives on, and so does Hungary’s.