Gellérthegy

Ferenc Novák designed first an electric cogwheel railway and then a hydraulic funicular on Gellért Hill In the last decade of the 19th century, architect Ferenc Novák presented to the public the plan of the Gellért Hill funicular, which was connected with the intention to demolish the Citadel. According to Novák's idea, not only a funicular would have been built on Gellért Hill, but also a lookout, an illuminated statue and the National Pantheon as a millennium monument. The architect would have built first an electric cogwheel railway and then a hydraulic funicular, for which he also received permits. Yet his dream did not come true.

Several people have already planned a funicular to Gellért Hill, but neither the cogwheel nor the steam cable car has been built What could be the explanation for the fact that despite the approved plans since the second half of the 19th century, the construction of a Gellért Hill funicular has never started? Guido Fuchs already in 1884, then in the 1890s Mór Balázs, Vince Ede Miller and Ferenc Novák put their own ideas on the table. However, none of them came close to implementation.

A little Genoa on Gellért Hill The Hegedüs Villa or originally the Schoch Villa is well known in Budapest, although few people know by its name. The mass of the building rises above the statue depicting Saint Gerard and the waterfall, so it is immediately noticeable when people drive from Pest to Buda across Erzsébet Bridge. Its medieval forms are less typical of early 20th century Hungarian architecture, according to urban legend, it is a copy of an Italian building. Pestbuda now reveals if the legend is true.