Parliament Building (Budapest)

View from the north

Front view

Boardroom

The parliament building , in German outdated Reichstag (Hungarian: Országház ; literally: "Landeshaus"), is the seat of the Hungarian parliament in Budapest . The 268-meter-long building, located directly on the banks of the Danube , is one of the landmarks of Budapest. The Palace of Westminster , seat of the British Parliament in London, served as a model .

The architect of the neo-Gothic building is Imre Steindl . The construction period lasted from 1885 to 1904.

history

Ferenc Wieser's proposal from 1861

Competition entry by Otto Wagner from 1883

As early as the 1830s there were plans to relocate the Hungarian parliament from Pressburg (Pozsony) to the former capital Pest. The architect Mihály Pollack , supported by Palatine Joseph Anton Johann , worked out plans for this in 1840. In 1844, however, the Landtag launched an international competition, the results of which, however , were not implemented in the wake of the revolutionary turmoil of 1848/49 , during which the Landtag actually moved to Pest.

After the end of the Bach era and neo-absolutism in Hungary, the state parliament dealt again with the question of building a parliament building in Pest from 1861. The architect Ferenc Wieser was awarded the contract, but the construction failed again due to major political events. In 1865 Miklós Ybl was finally allowed to plan a new provisional state parliament building, which was erected in the same year in a very short time and has been preserved to this day: The building at today's Sándor Bródy Street 8 currently houses the Italian cultural institute in Budapest.

In 1873 the three cities of Buda , Pest and Óbuda united to form Budapest. Seven years later it was decided to build a new and representative parliament building, which should symbolize the independence and sovereignty of the nation. In the following tender, the Hungarian architect Imre Steindl won on April 22, 1883, and the plans of the other first-placed winners were also implemented in buildings such as the Ethnographic Museum and the Ministry of Agriculture. Most of the competition designs were in the neo-Renaissance style, including the contributions by Otto Wagner with two Hungarian partners and the well-known Fellner & Helmer office ; Steindl, on the other hand, was modeled on the neo-Gothic Palace of Westminster in London.

The construction of the parliament began in 1885. About 1000 workers were busy over the next few years, layering over 40 million stones, including half a million gemstones , for the building. In addition, around 40 kilograms of gold were used. The building was opened in 1896 for the Millennium celebrations, but the construction work could not be finally completed until 1904.

It was tragic for the architect Imre Steindl that he never saw his work because he went blind before it was completed.

The building

The facade of the parliament consists of neo-Gothic elements, which get their characteristics from the numerous towers and gables.

The parliament is 268 meters long and 123 meters wide. With its height of 96 meters, it is the tallest building in Budapest, next to St. Stephen's Basilica . It has 10 inner courtyards, 13 passenger and freight elevators, 27 entrances, 29 stairwells, 691 rooms (including more than 200 rooms for official occasions and receptions) and 365 turrets.

Interior

The interior of the building is designed in the neoclassic style. It is adorned with frescoes and murals depicting the history of Hungary. Rich ornaments in gold can be found everywhere in Parliament. The largest knotted carpet in Europe, measuring 7 by 21 meters, is laid in an anteroom of the meeting room.

The parliament building consists of three areas. The impressive domed hall, in which the St. Stephen's crown with the Hungarian imperial insignia is kept, is arranged in the middle . To the north and south of this are the meeting rooms and rooms for representative purposes, as well as almost 700 other rooms. This also includes the offices of the President of the Republic , the Prime Minister and the National Assembly. Since Hungary had a bicameral parliament at the time of construction, two largely identical meeting rooms are also available. While today's unicameral parliament meets in the southern hall, the northern hall of the former upper house is used for tours or can be rented.

particularities

As the summers in Budapest can get relatively hot, the Parliament architect came up with a special type of air conditioning . Two fountains were placed in front of the building with hidden openings under them. These openings were used for air supply and air circulation. For this purpose, tunnels ran from the fountain into the parliament and thus supplied the water-cooled fresh air to the conference rooms. However, some of the tunnels were later walled up. The remaining open air ducts are still in use today, so large amounts of ice are deposited here on hot summer days to cool the parliamentary rooms.

Political changes

In 1929, three Al Secco paintings , originally depicting János Hunyadi , Ferenc Kossuth and Miklós Horthy , were installed in the former office of the chairman of the House of Representatives . The picture depicting Horthy was removed after 1945, and after 1977 the socialist-realistic painting that had replaced it. Due to the elimination of the magnate house after 1945 and the rooms that became vacant as a result, the state president and the prime minister also have their work and representation rooms in parliament today. The former boardroom of the upper house is used for meetings and congresses.

The dome hall arranged in the middle part, with its 96 meter high dome decorated with neo-Gothic motifs, is mainly used for representative purposes today. Conferences and meetings of the National Assembly are held in the boardrooms, adjacent to the dome hall to the north and south. The red star attached to the top of the dome in 1950 was removed in 1990 and replaced in 1992 by a replica of the original tip.

Since January 1, 2000, the Crown of St. Stephen and the Hungarian Crown Jewels have been kept here and guarded by the Crown Guard with their traditional uniforms. Many Hungarians have since taken the opportunity to see the nation's most important symbols. Group tours are carried out in various languages, including German.

park

In the park behind the building, on Kossuth tér , you can find the two statues of Francis II. Rákóczi and Lajos Kossuth , who played a major role in the Hungarian struggle for the country's independence. An eternal flame on another monument made of gray granite honors the heroes and victims of the Hungarian uprising of 1956.

Literature (selection)

Anton Palóczi: The drafts for the Hungarian parliament building , Pester Lloyd , April 27th, 28th, May 1st, May 3rd, 1883
Ludwig Hevesi : From the new Reichstag building , Pester Lloyd, March 12, 1884
Imre Steindl: Az új országházról (From the new parliament building), Akadémiai Értesítő X, 1899, pp. 117–125
Lászlo Csorba, József Sisa, Zoltán Szalay: The Hungarian Parliament , Budapest 1993