Samples walled up 65 years ago were found on Kossuth Square, in the Palace of Justice, reads the Facebook page of the Steindl Imre Program.

It is recalled in the post: shortly after the administration of justice was moved out of the Palace of Justice in 1949, the building was divided into two parts. The larger half was first used by the National Gallery and, until recently, by the Museum of Ethnography, while the smaller half was used by the Institute of Political History.

The two parts of the building were walled off from each other in the 1950s, and it remained that way until recent days. That's when the first bricked-up openings were opened. During the works, stylized plant ornaments were found on the arch. The decorative painting remained at the place of the masonry, which was destroyed elsewhere, according to the Facebook page.

The two halves of the corridor walled off in the fifties are reunited (Photo: Tamás Wachsler/ Imre Steindl Program)

When the subsequent masonry was removed, traces of the old decorative painting were found (Photo: Tamás Wachsler/ Imre Steindl Program)

Excavated detail of wall painting in the Palace of Justice (Photo: Tamás Wachsler/ Imre Steindl Program)

The Palace of Justice on Kossuth Square, opposite the Parliament, was designed by Alajos Hauszmann and was handed over in 1896. The representative neo-Renaissance-neo-Baroque style building was the seat of the Hungarian Royal Palace until 1949. 

The Palace of Justice (at that time the Hungarian Royal Palace and Judgment Panel) taken by György Klösz around 1898 (Source: Fortepan/Budapest Capital Archives. Archive reference: HU.BFL.XV.19.d.1.07.148)

In the future, the building will return to its original function and will once again be the home of the Kúria, i.e. the Supreme Court. Accordingly, the house will be restored as part of the Steindl Imre Program. During the full-scale renovation and historic reconstruction, the facades and historic interiors will regain their former beauty.

Source: Imre Steindl Program, pestbuda.hu

Cover photo: The main facade of the Palace of Justice today (Photo: Both Balázs/pestbuda.hu)