Erzsébet tér

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Western part of Erzsébet tér with a view of the Danubius Fountain
Eastern part of the square with the water basin above the Akvárium

The tér Erzsébet is a public course in the V. district in Budapest .

Location and description

The square is located in the center of Pest , one block south of St. Stephen's Basilica and about 500 meters from the Chain Bridge and the banks of the Danube. It is bordered to the north by József Attila utca and to the east by Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út , along which the border to VI. District runs. In the southeast the Erzsébet tér borders on the much smaller Deák Ferenc tér , which marks the end of the Kiskörút . The start of the Andrássy út boulevard is not far to the northeast.

The square has an almost rectangular shape and is divided into two parts: the western, historical Erzsébet tér, laid out as a park, and the eastern part, opened up in the early 2000s. The two parts are separated by the elongated building of the former bus station. Around 70 percent of the space is green . Due to its central location, the square is a popular meeting place in Pest.

history

The kiosk at the end of the 19th century
Aerial photo of Erzsébet tér (in the right half of the picture) and its surroundings in 1944

In the Middle Ages, the area of ​​today's square was outside the city walls of Pest and served as a cemetery. A market was later held there before the square was converted into a park in the mid-19th century. After the Austrian Empress Elisabeth (Hungarian Erzsébet ) the square was named Erzsébet tér .

Due to its central location and its size, Erzsébet tér soon became the focus of urban gardening and became one of the “most attractive and representative public open spaces in the city”. In 1874 the Kiosk , a cultural center in neo -renaissance style based on plans by Alajos Hauszmann , was opened on the square . This was redesigned in the Secession style in 1907 by the brothers József and László Vágó and converted into a new art hall for the National Salon.

During the Battle of Budapest in 1944/45, the structures on and around Erzsébet tér were badly damaged. The block directly east of the square was then torn down; a parking lot was created in its place. Despite the danger of collapse, the building of the National Salon was still used for art exhibitions during the 1950s and was only demolished in 1960. In 1948/49, the bus station designed by István Nyiri was built on what was then the eastern edge of the square. In the 20th century the square was renamed several times: from 1946 to 1953 it was called Sztálin tér , then Engels tér and since 1990 again Erszébet tér .

In 1988, planning began for a new building for the National Theater on the site of the parking lot between Erzsébet tér and Deák Ferenc tér. Almost a decade later, in 1997, Ferenc Bán's design prevailed in the architectural competition . Construction work on Erzsébet tér began on March 28, 1998 and should be completed in 2000. After the parliamentary elections in 1998 , Viktor Orbán's new government stopped the project in September of the same year, when large parts of the underground structure had already been completed. The open pit in the center of Budapest was awarded in accordance with the National Theater ( nemzeti színház ) nicknamed the "National Pit" ( nemzeti gödör ). The government and the city administration finally decided to convert the underground buildings into a cultural center and a car park and to expand the Erzsébet tér on the area. The work was completed in 2002 and the cultural center called Gödör (now Akvárium ) opened. A water basin and a new lawn were created on the surface.

The eastern part of the square was renovated again in 2013/14.

Buildings

  • Danubius Fountain ( Danubius-kút ), built 1880–1883 ​​according to plans by Miklós Ybl in the neo-Renaissance style. The fountain originally stood on Kálvin tér and was moved to Erzsébet tér in 1957/58. The fountain figures symbolize the Danube and its tributaries Tisza , Drava and Sava .
  • Former bus station, built in 1948/49 by István Nyiri, renovated from 2004–2006, has housed the design terminal , restaurants and bars since 2011
  • Memorial to Raoul Wallenberg , erected in 2014
  • Statue Népdál (“Folk Song ”) by János Horvay , erected in 1929
  • Ferris wheel, on the western part of the square since 2013

  • Danubius fountain

  • Renovated departure building of the former bus station (2011)

  • Gödör Cultural Center (today Akvárium ), 2010

  • Wallenberg monument

Web links

Commons : Erzsébet tér  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kinga Szilágyi: Case study: Erzsébet Square, Budapest . In: Ian Thompson, Torben Dam, Jens Balsby Nielsen (eds.): European Landscape Architecture: Best Practice in Detailing . Routledge, 2007, ISBN 978-1-134-39785-3 , pp. 135-152 .
  2. ^ József Sisa: Public Parks . In: József Sisa (ed.): Motherland and Progress. Hungarian Architecture and Design 1800–1900 . Birkhäuser, Basel 2016, ISBN 978-3-0356-1009-3 , p. 599 .
  3. ↑ a b Csaba Domonkos: 145 éve adták át az Erzsébet téri Kioszkot. In: PestBuda.hu , May 10, 2019, accessed April 23, 2020.
  4. ^ Emilia Palonen: Building a new city through a new discourse: Street naming revolutions in Budapest . In: Reuben Rose-Redwood, Derek Alderman, Maoz Azaryahu (Eds.): The Political Life of Urban Streetscapes: Naming, Politics, and Place . Routledge, 2017, ISBN 978-1-4724-7509-1 , pp. 143 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ Történeti áttekintés. Story on the National Theater website, accessed April 23, 2020.
  6. ^ Mirjam Sági: Public space 'development' in the city center of Budapest. In: Conference proceedings: Hungarian economy and society in the globalizing world of the 21st century . Szent István University, Békéscsaba 2016, p. 80-86 ( researchgate.net ).
  7. ↑ Danubius-kút on Műemlékem.hu, accessed on April 23, 2020.

Coordinates: 47 ° 29 ′ 54.2 ″  N , 19 ° 3 ′ 11.5 ″  E