Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Batthyány and Nagy monuments
Two monuments off the northern corners of Szabadság tér recall very different historical fig-
ures. To the northeast at the far end of Aulich utca, in the centre of a small roundabout,
a badly weathered lantern flickers with an
Eternal Flame
commemorating
Count Lajos
Batthyány
. The Prime Minister of the short-lived republic declared after the 1848 War of
Independence, Batthyány was executed by the Habsburgs on this spot on October 6, 1849.
As a staunch patriot - but not a revolutionary - he is a hero for conservative nationalists, and
his monument is the destination of marches on October 6.
To the northwest of Szabadság tér at the far end of Vécsey utca a figure stands on a foot-
bridge in Vértanuk tere (Martyrs' Square), gazing towards Parliament. This is
Imre Nagy
,
the reform Communist who became Prime Minister during the 1956 Uprising and was shot
in secret two years afterwards. With his raincoat, trilby and umbrella hooked over his arm,
Nagy cuts an all-too-human, flawed figure - and is scorned by those who pay homage to Bat-
thyány.
Kossuth tér
The apotheosis of the government district and Hungary's romantic self-image comes at
Kos-
suth tér
, with its colossal Parliament building and its memorials to national heroes. The
square is named after
Lajos Kossuth
,
the leader of the 1848 Revolution, who is represen-
ted by a sculptural tableau showing him and his ministers downcast by their defeat in 1849.
The Communists had replaced it with a more heroic version, but that has been removed as
the square is returned to its pre-March 1944 state. Two restored statues stand to the north
and south of Parliament: by the visitor centre is the grandiose monument to
István Tisza
,
the prime minister of Hungary in 1914, while to the south is the equestrian statue of
Gyula
Andrássy
, prime minister after the 1867 compromise. The equestrian statue on the grass in
front of Parliament is of
Prince Ferenc Rákóczi II
, a hero of the struggle for Hungarian
independence, whose plinth is inscribed: “The wounds of the noble Hungarian nation burst
open!” This is a reference to the anti-Habsburg war of 1703-11, but also perfectly describes
the evening of October 23, 1956, when crowds filled the square, chanting anti-Stalinist slo-
gans at Parliament - the prelude to the Uprising that night. Down the steps between the two
equestrian statues is the new 1956 memorial to those who died on Kossuth tér on October 25,
when ÁVO snipers opened fire on a peaceful crowd that was fraternizing with Soviet tank-
crews.
