histories

From Pest to Gellért Hill by funicular Reaching Buda from Pest downtown at the end of the 19th century was not easy. Climbing to the top of Gellért Hill had similar issues. These two problems would have been solved by the truly spectacular idea of János Ruppenthal, i.e., building a bridge and a funicular.

The first steamboat sailed from Pest to Buda two hundred years ago A bizarre machine started operating 200 years ago on the Danube between Buda and Pest. A 13-metre-long, small, smoking structure, with a large wheel on each side, splashed water and towed a passenger barge after it. Although the company lived for only a year, it started steam navigation on the Danube.

Obligatory Sunday shooting practice lead to the construction of the Pest Shooting« Range 180 years ago In the past, every citizen of Buda and Pest was required to know how to shoot. Not because they were expected to stand their ground in a dual, but because they had to be prepared to defend the cities should an enemy attack. The new Pest Shooting Range was completed 180 years ago on the present-day Lövölde Square.

A bridge bears the name of the respected Hungarian engineer who designed a canal to go around Budapest Have you ever heard of Jenő Kvassay? The name may be familiar to those who know Budapest well, as the city houses a Kvassay Bridge, Kvassay Road and Kvassay Lock. These are all named after the Hungarian hydraulic engineers, who played a central part in regulating the Danube.

The Chain Bridge Purchase – 150 years ago the State bought the Chain Bridge What is now a famous Budapest landmark, the Chain Bridge, was originally constructed by a private company and opened in 1849. In return, the company received a range of financial benefits from the state, including the right to charge everyone for crossing.

The mourning Budapest - The traffic of the capital and the heartbeat of the nation stopped 100 years ago On that day, no shops were opened in Budapest, no performances were held, cafés, restaurants and clubs remained closed. In the schools of the capital, the teachers told the students about the injustice they had experienced in Hungary, moved, with tears in their eyes. A multitude of people expelled from the torn-off area staged a silent protest on Andrássy Avenue against the 4 June Treaty of Trianon. All Pest newspapers were shocked to report on the fragmentation of Hungary, and regardless of party affiliation, they unanimously rejected the Paris decision.