The „intertwined history” of the bridges and the city of Budapest

February 8, 2025 at 3:00 PM

Which ideas and events have shaped the fate of bridges of Budapest and the cityscape? Alongside many other interesting facts, this question is also answered this newly published book by the Budapest City Archives, which introduces the history of bridges in Budapest.

As the city of Budapest became a metropolis, its bridges were built alongside it, defining the cityscape. Nowadays nine permanent roads and two railway bridges has crossed the Danube connecting Buda and Pest, but the history of the River Danube’s crossing-places between the two parts of the city dates back hundreds of years.

This engaging topic from the point of view of urban history, art history, architecture and engineering are the subject of the book titled Budapest - The City and Its Bridges published in 2024 by the Budapest City Archives and edited by Zsófia V. László Chief Archivist. The aim of the book is to present the „intertwined” history of the bridges and the city of Budapest.

The antecedent of this richly illustrated bilingual (Hungarian and English) book was the exhibition Budapest - The City and Its Bridges organised by the Archives of the Capital of Budapest in 2023 to mark the 150th anniversary of the unification of the capital and the renewal of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. The book contains a great number of new research results, making it much more than a mere exhibition catalogue. The book recounts the bridge plans of the capital along and points out the role of bridges in urban development.

The book reveals that in the Middle Ages, King Sigismund of Luxembourg and King Matthias Hunyadi had already planned to have a permanent bridge built between Pest and Buda and the Turks constructed a pontoon bridge between the two banks of the Danube during the Turkish occupation.

Between the Ottoman era and the inauguration of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge a pontoon bridge was used to cross the Danube. The pontoon bridge was wider than we can think. For example, a very wide and spacious pontoon bridge in Carl P. Vasquez’s engraving from the first half of the 19th century is also depicted in the book. The book includes several maps which helps to get insight into the stages and pace of the urban development along with depictions of temporary solutions for crossing the river including the 18th century engraving of a swing ferry.

The idea of a permanent Danube bridge in Budapest became increasingly popular from the 1820s onwards, with the search for an ideal solution based on English models. In the late 1820s, Count Sándor Móric commissioned the French-born English engineer Marc Isambard Brunel to make plans about a permanent bridge, who envisaged a five-span chain bridge. The plan is included in the book. The permanent bridge plans between Buda and Pest published in the book include a one-pier suspension bridge plan from 1832 by Sándor Győry surveyor and an iron bridge plan by the Hoffmann brothers and engineer Károly Maderspach from 1836. In 1838 Pál Vásárhely proposed an exciting concept which is a bridge with piers resembling triumphal arches with an inn occupying the top level of its centre pillar. It can be said that the idea of a permanent bridge became one of symbol of progress in the reform era in Hungary.

The chapter of unrealised plans are followed by the history of the Danube bridges in the capital, rich in twists and turns. It tells the story of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, the Margaret Bridge, the Liberty Bridge (formerly the Fővám Square Bridge, then the Ferenc József Bridge), the Elisabeth Bridge (short-term the Eskü Square Bridge), the Petőfi Bridge (formerly the Horthy Miklós Bridge), the Árpád Bridge (formerly the Stalin Bridge). The book also commemorates the temporary bridges built to replace our engineering monuments destroyed in the Second World War. It then looks at the history of the Rákóczi Bridge (formerly the Lágymányosi Bridge), the Deák Ferenc Bridge (for a time the Hárosi Bridge) and the Megyeri Bridge.

The chapter Alternative Budapest various enlists unrealized ideas and plans the 20th century with the aim of creating an urban planning concepts related to the construction of a bridge (Tabán, Óbuda). These plans include the post-utilization plan for the cancelled World Exhibition venue in Buda area, with a special pedestrian bridged drawn by Dr. Tibor Sigrai and Péter Reimholz in 1994.

There are also topics closely related to bridges, such as the bridge toll, which was initially paid by all crossers. The bridge tolls collected were also used to finance the maintenance of the bridges and the repayment of the loans taken out to build them. The book also includes the date (30th November 1918) when-the bridge toll was finally abolished.

In the chapter Bridge builders and times, difficulties of building bridges are examined and the historical events affecting the fate of the bridges. It is pointed out that the transport of raw materials for bridges was not an easy task. For example, in the case of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, the iron material for the chains was brought from England to Pest-Buda and was first unloaded in Frankfurt, not at its destination. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge (opened on the 20 August 1849) was saved from destruction on several occasions due to the expertise and intercession of the Scottish Adam Clark. During the War of

Independence in 1848/1849 at Hungary, he managed to save the bridge, which was from an attempted explosion undertaken by the Austrians or from General Dembinszky’s intention to burn it.

The history of the bridges is marked by significant events and celebrations, such as the laying of the foundation stone, the official inauguration of the bridge and the adornments displayed during national holidays. The highlights of these occasions include the laying of the foundation stone of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in 1842 depicted on Miklós Barabás’ painting. A painting depicts the Széchenyi Chain Bridge with red ornaments (red flags and ribbons, red stars) from the 1st May 1919. The Pest side of the Chain bridge is shown in the background of a picture created for the summit of Governor Miklós Horthy and King Victor Emmanuel in 1937. The book also includes a photograph of the re-inauguration of the post-war reconstructed Chain Bridge in 1949.

The engineering masterpieces spanning the Danube were important transport and strategic points in the life of the city and therefore bridges became the scenes of conflict in revolutionary and wartime situations, from the events of the 1848/1849 War of Independence, the Battle of Lánchíd in 1918 and the tragic consequences of the siege of Budapest to the taxi drivers’ protests after the regime change in 1990.

The book also gives a summary related to the history of the horse and tram lines that cross the bridges. In the chapter Bridges as places of memory those monuments, statues and buildings are introduced which were placed or intended to be placed in the vicinity of the bridges.

The book also presents the depictions of the Hungarian Holy Crown, symbols and coats of arms on the bridges. It also deals with the importance of the bridges for the city's image, including the tourist aspects: the Széchenyi Chain Bridge can be seen on the menu of the Grand Hotel Hungária (1876) or on the advertising of the national chocolate, porcelain cup painting and stamps.

The chapters of the book were written by V. Zsófia László, János Nagy, Olivér Perczel, Katalin Simon, Katalin Varga chief archivists. The illustrations of the book include the collections of the Budapest City Archives, the National Archives of Hungary, Military History Museum, the Hungarian National Museum and The Hungarian Museum of Science, Technology and Transport, along with contemporary pictures from 19th century periodicals. In conclusion, this book is a representative and thoroughly researched publication on the bridges of Budapest along with the great number of high-quality images making it a source of valuable information for experts and the wider circle of audience.

Budapest – The City and Its Bridges, the book was written and edited by V. László Zsófia, Budapest, Budapest City Archives, 2024.

Cover photo: View across the River Danube with the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and the Hungarian Parliament Building in 1908. (Source: Fortepan/Photo ID: 277831)

Bookmark, Budapest, Chain Bridge, Havas Gyöngyvér, PestBuda, pestbuda.hu

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The Bridge Report, which brought a turning point in the history of Budapest

March 31, 2023 at 3:00 PM

A travel report that changed the history of Pest and Buda, as well as Hungary. The little book contributed to the change of half a thousand years of legal customs and the implementation of an investment of unprecedented size and technical quality. This book was The Bridge Report [Hídjelentés in Hungarian].

Who also painted the construction of the Chain Bridge: Miklós Barabás died 125 years ago

February 17, 2023 at 12:30 PM

We can confidently say that Miklós Barabás was one of the most outstanding artists of the Reform era, the first painter who earned the respect of society with his artistic work. During his long career, he made portraits of many important and well-known personalities, including Mihály Vörösmarty, János Arany, Ferenc Deák, Palatine Joseph, and even Franz Joseph. The capital also often provided the subject of his pictures. He achieved great success with his paintings, and the press regularly reported on his current works. It was thanks to his exceptional talent that he managed to gain fame at a time when the work of painters was not yet highly valued.

The Chain Bridge was closed 50 years ago as well

February 16, 2023 at 1:30 PM

The Chain Bridge was closed 50 years ago as well, as after its reconstruction in 1949, it needed to be renovated again. The works were timed for the 100th anniversary of the unification of Pest, Buda and Óbuda. The old painting had to be removed from a surface of 73,000 square metres, but at that time the 1949 coat of arms was also replaced with the version current in 1973.

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The Bridge Report, which brought a turning point in the history of Budapest A travel report that changed the history of Pest and Buda, as well as Hungary. The little book contributed to the change of half a thousand years of legal customs and the implementation of an investment of unprecedented size and technical quality. This book was The Bridge Report [Hídjelentés in Hungarian].

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Drama on the university wall - The heroic monument was planned 95 years ago In the constant hustle and bustle of the Egyetem Square in Pest, the students may not even notice the monument that decorates the short section of wall between the church and the central building of ELTE. However, it commemorates their predecessors, the heroes who fought for their country in World War I, and those who heroically helped them. The first design of the dramatically collapsing soldier was born in 1928, ninety-five years ago.

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If the efforts of 1848 had not failed, Szabadság Square would be somewhere else today Do you know where Diadal Street or Szabad Sajtó Street was in 1848? Not where many would think. During the revolution of 1848, the street names of Pest and Buda also changed.

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The story of a famous clothing factory in Józsefváros Close to Nagyvárad Square, at the junction of Elnök Street and Orczy Road, there is a complex of buildings with a huge floor area. There is an office building, a jewellery store, a tailor shop, a communications technology company, a photography and video recording company, and even a table tennis club. In the 1960s and 1970s, one of the largest clothing manufacturers in the country operated behind the walls, but the story did not begin then but at the end of the 19th century.

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Sightseeing flights over Budapest - This is how air travel was popularised 70 years ago Seventy years ago, the Hungarian airline of the time, MASZOVLET, wanted to bring aviation closer to the general public, so it invited interested parties to a quarter-hour sightseeing flight. Many were flying for the first time, the oldest passenger was over 80 years old.

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Luxury in the white cubes - 90-year-old modern villas in Buda The Buda side of the capital, with its wonderful landscapes and fresh air, is still very attractive today, and it was like this even in the first half of the last century. Many people from Pest, which became especially crowded after the Treaty of Trianon, moved to the other side of the Danube and from the beginning of the thirties, they built modern-style villas on the hillsides. Pestbuda now presents two of them below, into which their residents moved ninety years ago.

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The downfall of the first Hungarian railway Technical problems, and price competition caused by rivals caused the loss of the first Hungarian railway line. The company, which started with high hopes, suspended its activities 195 years ago. This was the Pest-Kőbánya suspension railway.

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Parking garage in the historic inner city Cars everywhere - this characterised Budapest 50 years ago. Parking was thought to be part of the modern city. In Budapest, there were more and more cars, but the number of parking spaces did not increase fast enough, and a parking garage for 350 vehicles in the very centre of the inner city wanted to help with this.

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Stone coffin in front of the Parliament - The Monument of National Martyrs was unveiled 89 years ago Statues of many statesmen can be seen in front of the Parliament, which is why the Monument of National Martyrs, located next to Kossuth Square, on Vértanúk Square, receives relatively little attention. The dignified work even in its simplicity commemorates the victims of the proletarian power after World War I. After five years of preparation, it was unveiled on 18 March 1934, exactly eighty-nine years ago.

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Pest and Buda in 1848 Perhaps the best-known Hungarian historical date is 15 March 1848. But what was the city of Pest and Buda like 175 years ago, where a few literary young men recited poems and printed a manifesto in a heightened mood, accompanied by a relatively large but peaceful crowd on that rainy March day, thus setting a new direction for the development of Hungary?

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In the footsteps of Petőfi: A walk around the sites of the Revolution of 15 March in Pest and Buda The sites of the Revolution of 15 March 1848 in Pest and Buda can still be visited today, and even some of the buildings that played an important role in the events are still there: standing in front of the National Museum, the Landerer and Heckenast Printing House, the Locotenential Council and the Táncsics-prison, anyone can recall the events.

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Trauma and milestone - The story of the Pest-Buda flood of 1838 185 years ago, between 13 and 18 March 1838, the Danube flood, which is considered to be the largest in the history of the settlements in the area of today's Budapest, which had an independent public administration at the time, devastated the area. The natural disaster also called the ice flood, caused the most serious damage in Pest, which was at the dawn of development during the Reform Era. While in the other settlements, life returned to the previous state after the flood receded, in Pest, after the destruction, using more durable materials, it was possible to rebuild the city on a new scale.

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Tunnels instead of bridges? – An unrealised plan from the 19th century to connect Pest and Buda The plan to build road tunnels under the Danube instead of bridges was seriously considered in Budapest already 130 years ago. Proponents argued that tunnels were cheaper, more sustainable and less militarily vulnerable. This idea was on the agenda for years, but the tunnels were not built in the end.

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The competition of the bridges was decided at a meeting Should the Árpád or the Petőfi Bridge be built first? This was the dilemma that preoccupied the rebuilders of the bridges in Budapest in 1948. The question was not new, the same decision had to be made once 20 years earlier. At that time, the bridge at Boráros Square "won", but after the destruction of World War II, the question was again whether to continue the work with the blown-up bridge at Boráros Square or the half-finished Árpád Bridge.

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The first Hungarian female engineer was born 125 years ago - She wanted to build bridges, roads and railways Eszter Pécsi, the first Hungarian female engineer, received her statics degree at Royal Joseph Polytechnic University on her 22nd birthday, making her the first female graduate engineer in the country. She notes the plans for the statics of the Alfréd Hajós Swimming Pool, but after 1945 she also took part in the revision of the capital's damaged buildings, as well as in the reinforcement work of the cracked roof of the National Theatre. She was responsible for the construction of several villas in the capital, such as the recently renovated Rózsi Walter Villa, which was designed by her husband, József Fischer. In Pestbuda's article, we remember the first Hungarian female engineer.

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The afterlife of a grain warehouse - The 140-year-old Elevator House on Boráros Square was a real sight From the 1870s, huge construction works were carried out in Budapest, which was developing into a metropolis. Of course, the Hungarian capital, as the country's economic, commercial and industrial centre not only grew at an ever-accelerating rate in terms of its residential and public buildings, but its industrial sites also multiplied, and their sizes occupied an ever-larger area. An important logistics centre was established close to the southern connecting railway bridge.

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The pioneer of modern architecture - Virgil Borbíró was born 130 years ago In the first half of the 20th century, Hungarian architectural public life was punctuated by many debates: at first, the Hungarian design language was at the centre, then from the second half of the 1920s, modern architecture. Virgil Borbíró took on a fighting role in the latter and fought determinedly for the new trend to gain ground. The engineer, who was born exactly one hundred and thirty years ago, left his mark on Hungarian cultural history not only with his buildings but also with his writings and organisational work.

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The last expropriations: Dilapidated houses stood on the route of Erzsébet Boulevard The Outer Ring Road in Budapest was built over a long period of time in several waves. One of the important turning points in the history of the construction of the road occurred in 1888 when the section from Margit Bridge to Üllői Road became completely open.

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The radio is playing - Experimental broadcasting started 100 years ago Regular public radio broadcasts started in Hungary at the end of 1925, but it was possible to listen to the radio in Hungarian in the country more than two years before public broadcasts began because experimental broadcasts started in March 1923.

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The small mirror of Art Deco - The lesser-known side of Frigyes Spiegel, who died 90 years ago Frigyes Spiegel wrote himself into the history of Hungarian architecture with his fantastic facades: his Art Nouveau buildings are the earliest appearances of the new style in the country. His genius naturally followed the changes of the times, and between the two world wars, he also left his mark on Art Deco - even if only to the extent of a single building. However, the historical circumstances also increase the value of this work of his, which also belongs to the elite in its category.

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Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church turns 30 years old Thirty years ago, the Synod of the Reformed Church, at its meeting on 24 February 1993, decided to found the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church on the foundations of the Pest Reformed Theological Academy. The choice of name caused some controversy, but his work, the first complete Hungarian Bible translation, was in favour of Gáspár Károli, as it serves as the basis of universal Hungarian culture. University education started at 28 Ráday Street, the former seat of the theological academy, but due to the growing number of students, new locations had to be found. Nowadays, the students of the reformed university can study in such patinated buildings as the Károlyi-Csekonics Palace on Reviczky Street or the former Municipal School for Girls on Aréna Street.

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The story of the preservation of a factory building in Ferencváros The Laboratory Equipment Factory, completed in January 1963 at the corner of Tűzoltó Street and Thaly Kálmán Street, defined the streetscape of the neighbourhood for decades. Even when hundreds of workers worked in the building with a huge floor area, and even when it stood empty after 1990 and its condition deteriorated year by year. Nowadays, a modern dormitory, mainly inhabited by foreign university students, operates behind the walls, the new function also meant the rebirth of the building.

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Where a movie star lived 100 years ago - Kálmán Rózsahegyi's villa Kálmán Rózsahegyi was one of the greatest actors of the first half of the last century, in addition to his stage presence, he also played in many cult films. For his fiftieth birthday, his fans wanted to surprise him with a family house, for which they started a fundraiser. The plans were drawn up by Jenő Lechner a hundred years ago, in 1923, and he created a sumptuous luxury villa with his brilliant idea and great sense of style. Three years later, the actor was able to occupy his new home after returning home from the United States of America.

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Budapest then and today – 5 photos showing how much the city has changed The capital, which is 150 years old this year, has changed so much over time that every day citizens can marvel at a section of a street, an old building that has disappeared or that has miraculously survived. This time, with the help of five pairs of images, Pestbuda presents the passage of time from the houses of the old inner city of Pest to the flood in Tabán.

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Gemstone along the Devil's Trench - The idea of the emerald church was born 90 years ago A fantastic church is hidden among lavish villas, just a few hundred metres from the tram terminus in Hűvösvölgy. Its modern forms suggest that it was built in the 20th century, but visitors might not even imagine how long the work took - competing with medieval cathedrals, it was completed in several decades. However, the result was equally brilliant, the Gothic and modernism are perfectly combined in it. The idea of building the church in Remetekertváros was born ninety years ago, in 1933.

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It preceded the radio: The telephone herald was a Hungarian invention that delivered the news to the public immediately When, thanks to Tivadar Puskás's invention, the Telephone Herald began operating in Budapest on 14 February 1893, radio broadcasting was still an unknown concept. The service, which delivered news read into a microphone via the telephone network, attracted the interest of the general public, which is not surprising. During these years, the Hungarian capital was under enormous development: palace-like public buildings and residential houses were completed one after the other, trams were already running on the roads, and the organisation of the millennium celebrations was in full swing, meaning that the new invention arrived in an optimistic era.

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The young loves of Madách and Petőfi In a voice of unclouded happiness, Imre Madách told his brother about the ball at which he danced with the love of his youth, Menyhért Lónyay's sister, Etelka Lónyay, but the unrequited love did not turn into a proposal. Petőfi had the courage to ask the daughter of a rich banker for her hand in marriage, but she offered it to Menyhért Lónyay. In connection with this year's Madách and Petőfi anniversaries, Pestbuda recalls the loves of youth, offering a glimpse into the world of reform-era balls.

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The Chain Bridge was closed 50 years ago as well The Chain Bridge was closed 50 years ago as well, as after its reconstruction in 1949, it needed to be renovated again. The works were timed for the 100th anniversary of the unification of Pest, Buda and Óbuda. The old painting had to be removed from a surface of 73,000 square metres, but at that time the 1949 coat of arms was also replaced with the version current in 1973.

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The father of the Lágymányos residential houses, architect József Fischer was born 150 years ago Architect József Fischer was one of the important creators of the large-scale residential house constructions that began at the beginning of the 20th century. His buildings still define the image of Lágymányos. If people walk from the direction of Szent Gellért Square on Bartók Béla Road towards Móricz Zsigmond Square, or walk over to Budafoki Road, from here they turn into Zenta Street, they can see several residential houses that he listed. He designed around 25 houses in the capital, most of which are still standing today. Pestbuda now commemorates József Fischer, who was born 150 years ago.

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There was once a theatre in the Class Lottery Palace - The history of the theatre began 105 years ago on Eskü Square Where cars turn down today from the Erzsébet Bridge to the Pest embankment, before World War II, there stood a huge and beautiful building: the Class Lottery Palace. It was built at the turn of the century in the Neo-Baroque style, but Art Nouveau also left its mark on it. However, its interior was remodelled several times, most significantly for Vilma Medgyaszay's theatre. Jenő Lechner made its classicist plans in February 1918, exactly 105 years ago.

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The „intertwined history” of the bridges and the city of Budapest

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