The Official Hungarian Gazette published on 10 March states that the following buildings will soon come under new ownership: The House of Hungarian Writers at 18 Bajza Street, Zichy Palace at 1 Fő tér in Óbuda, and the southern part of the Óbuda Shipyard under lot numbers: 18386/3 18386/4, 18386/5,18386/6, 18386/9, 23798/4, 23798/5 and 23796/18. 

A government decree published in the Gazette – 1108/2021. (III. 10) – calls on the Minister without Portfolio for the Management of National Assets to examine the possibility of handing the building listed above over to the Petőfi Literary Agency, a subsidiary of the Petőfi Literary Museum, in cooperation with the Minister for Human Resources.

According to the decision, the agency will be tasked with financing and supporting cultural activities and developing, maintaining, and operating institutions focusing on cultural activities. The agency will be provided with government subsidies to carry out its duties. 

Although the Gazette mentions the transfer as a possibility, the Ministerial Commissioner for Pop Music and President of the Petőfi Literary Museum, Szilárd Demeter, noted the transfer as a fact in his article published on Mandiner.hu (in Hungarian) on 9 March. 

One of the buildings in question, the Art Nouveau house at 18 Bajza Street, built in 1911 according to the plans of Sándor Löffler and Béla Löffler, currently houses the Hungarian Writers' Association and its partner institutions. 

The headquarters of the Hungarian Writers' Association stands in the 6th District, 2019 (Photo: MTI / Márton Mónus)

The entrance to the headquarters of the Hungarian Writers' Association on Bajza Street, 2019 (Photo: MTI / Mónus Márton)

The Baroque Zichy Palace was built between 1746 and 1756 and designed by János Henrik Jäger and Bebo Károly. As the builders of the palace, Miklós Zichy and his wife, Erzsébet Berényi, had no children, their estate returned to the original owner, the Royal Chancellery, together with the palace.

Then, in 1776, its side wings were demolished, and other parts of the building damaged by the great flood of 1838. Another of its wings was demolished in 1954 due to the construction of the suburban railway tracks. The palace has served cultural purposes since the 1970s and houses the Kassák Museum, the Vasarely Museum and the Óbuda Museum. Its courtyard is home to Kobuci Kert.

The main building of Zichy Palace, Kobuca Garden to the right (Photo: pestbuda.hu)

The Óbuda Shipyard, established in 1835 on the initiative of Count István Széchenyi, was one of the largest factories in Hungary until its closure in 2000. It provided the country and Europe with many legendary and successful ship types. It was also where the Hungarian National Anthem was first played before a crowd at a 

The shipyard in Óbuda, drawing by Alt Rudolf, 1850 (Source: FSZEK Budapest Collection)

The southern part of Óbuda Island can be reached via the H-Bridge (Photo: Orsolya Putz/pestbuda.hu)

There are several protected industrial buildings in the area. After the factory's closure, the machines were replaced by offices and service and entertainment venues. The site is connected to the shoreline in front of Zichy Palace by H-Bridge. 

Cover photo: Zichy Castle today (Photo: pestbuda.hu)