Szent László tér, Városligeti fasor, Gizella út and Szobránc u. murals

Posted on 29/09/2024 by Michael

Hungarian Socialist murals

Szent László tér, Városligeti fasor, Gizella út and Szobránc u. murals

Some of the remaining murals which decorate the side of blocks of flats and official buildings created during Hungary’s Socialist period.

The five murals in Szent László tér

Szent László tér – 01

The largest is on the side wall of a block of flats which is located in Klapka György u., one of the streets off Szent László tér. It fills most of the wall and tells the story of a family (mother, father, son and 2 daughters) working in the countryside. On the right the mother holds her son high above her head with both her hands as he is picking fruit from a tree. The youngest of the daughters appears to be playing with a ball just beside her mother (being too young to work). On the left the father and elder daughter have stopped working (planting another fruit tree and they both have their hands on a shovel) and are watching as the boy plucks the fruit. Surrounding the group are strokes of different lengths and thicknesses, possibly representing grass, trees and other plants in the countryside.

The image is very simple and stylised. If you saw the component parts of the image before seeing the whole you would have no idea what they represent. I have been unable to find out the exact process used to produce this art work but presumably more than one layer of concrete was applied to the wall, a darker layer being then covered with a thin screen of a lighter version added once dry. The design appears when the upper layer is removed, the depth of which will determine how dark the image will appear. I’m assuming this is the process used in all the murals in this estate as all the other four use more than one colour (as well as the two murals near the Puskás Arena).

The base on which the group stand is a thick, horizontal line that extends the full width of the wall and there are another four such lines, shorter in length, that are on either side of the group. It appears that something had, in the past, been engraved on these lines so it’s possible this image was part of some sort of campaign and included a political slogan.

People who might be familiar with other posts on this blog relating to art works created in the Socialist period of other countries will be aware that I don’t find this ‘propaganda’ aspect of Socialist Realist art a problem. After all, the advertising we are surrounded with in capitalist countries all have a message, mostly aimed at parting people from their money. Capitalism suggests it never uses ‘propaganda’ and that this is something only the populace of their enemies have to endure. However, this distinction is forgotten in times of conflict – take, for example, the posters produced in Britain in both the ‘World’ wars of the 20th century and even the ‘fear’ campaign about AIDS in the late 1970s.

The only information I have about this mural, and presumably the other four in this small estate, was that it was created in 1958 when the buildings were constructed. However, if you look underneath the ball and just to the left you will see the name ‘Kadar’. I have tried to find out more but the only Hungarian artist with that name I have come across died in 1956, before this mural was created.

Two of the other murals can be found on the opposite side of this block of flats.

Szent László tér – 02

The first one, on a wall that breaks up the façade looking into the square, is much smaller and much less ‘complicated’. It depicts three, young peasant women during harvest time. They are are carrying small baskets of a small fruit, either on their heads, in their arms or – the young woman in the centre – in her apron. I think this could be the harvesting of olives as the leaves seem be the right sort for an olive tree.

Szent László tér – 03

The third is on the very end of this same block of flats, next to a single story house. This is of two construction workers, a bricklayer – lower down and to the left – and what I think must be a scaffolder, who is in the process of erecting a wooden scaffold. This particular mural only takes up a small part of the wall, no more than a third, so what was the rationale with the installation of these murals is a bit of a mystery.

Szent László tér – 04

The fourth mural is on a different building completely. This is on the side of another block of flats which butts on to Türr István utca, another street that leads off the square, parallel to Klapka György u. When the trees are in leaf this is an easy mural to miss but probably easier to find in the winter. This one depicts a group of musicians and singers. You’ll be able to make out a lute (I think) and a large double bass as well as singers reading from sheet music.

Szent László tér – 05

The final mural in this grouping is on, yet again, another apartment block. This is high up on an end wall on Kiss Ernő u. – a street at 90º to the above mentioned streets and at the other side of the square. This is of a group of three older women who appear to be in the act of washing clothes.

Considering their age (and the likelihood that little attention has been paid to their upkeep since the early 1990s) all these five murals are a very good condition.

You know you are in the right square when you see the large statue of the turtle.

Location;

All five of these murals are in the vicinity of Szent László tér in Ujpest (that’s important as there’s another square of the same name closer to the centre of town which is very much a bus terminal).

GPS;

47.568688º N

19.095536º E

How to get there by public transport;

Get to Keleti railway station at the end of Metro line 4. From there you can either take the 30, 30A or 20E and get off a few minutes from the square. This is where a mobile phone comes into its own. Or you can go to Ujpest-központ, the last station north on Metro line 3 and from there take the short bus journey to Szent László tér on the number 220 bus.

The mural at 50 Városligeti fasor

Városligeti fasor

This impressive mural is on the façade facing Városligeti fasor on a wall of what used to be the headquarters of the Nation Union of Hungarian Builders – MÉMOSZ. After the collapse of Socialism construction workers lost their organisation and hence had no need for such a large building and it was sold under a scheme of privatisation. The mural depicts a group of construction workers, both men and women, involved in the process of building a wall and laying a concrete floor. This is a busy scene with workers walking in both directions, other workers busy at their task and things happening on more than one level. There are labourers, bricklayers, carpenters and at the far left it looks like an architect talking to the foreman as one of them has a architects plan in his hands.

It uses the technique of cutting deep into the concrete façade and that gives the image a 3D effect. It’s also in a very good condition and looks like it must have had some maintenance work in the recent past.

Just behind the back foot of the second of the two women carrying a load of bricks up a slope you can see the name ‘Tari’ and the date 1949. This is the signature of the sculptor Istvan Tar (1910-1971).

Location;

50 Városligeti fasor

GPS;

47.51128º N

19.08006º E

How to get there by public transport;

Get to Keleti railway station at the end of Metro line 4. From there you can either take the 30, 30A and get off the stop for the Museum of Ethnology (the very modern building with an impressive and unique roof garden/observation platform). The mural is on the opposite side of the road to the museum, almost directly across from the lowest point of the roof garden.

The murals at Gizella út and Szobránc u.

There are two separate addresses for these murals but they are actually at either end of the same building – it just unites the two streets.

Gizella út

The first one is next to Gizella út 17 and, at least for me, is a little difficult to understand. At the top left of the wall there’s what looks like a representation of the sun and there’s a flock of long-necked, long-legged birds (cranes, storks?) flying in front of it.

Next, lower down and more over to the right is a group of four people (although it’s difficult to make that out with the naked eye as bits of concrete that have fallen away obscure the original intention of the artist). These characters appear to be dressed in Oriental clothing and are in some sort of procession with the person at the rear with her right hand in the air. I say her as all the characters in this mural give me the impression of being female. What’s strange about this group is that they are not facing in the same direction. If we take the direction of movement from right to left only two are facing that way. One is facing backwards and the fourth is facing the viewer.

Below them, now back to the left hand side of the wall, are a couple of women who are looking up at the group of four, and pointing to them with both hands. Why? I haven’t a clue.

If my theory (stated in the description of the first mural on this page) that the image is made up of various layers of coloured concrete to be able to provide colour to the image then that layering will produce weak points – and especially in an environment where the temperatures can often drop below zero in winter months and where there’s a lot of rain that can mean bits drop off over time. Of the murals described on this page this is the one that has suffered the most (almost certainly) environmental damage.

This mural is the work of Andrea Michnay and was completed in 1963.

Szobránc u.

The other mural attached to this building (which, I understand, was built as accommodation for workers of the Ministry of the Interior) is located at Szobránc u. 18.

It depicts groups of families or friends in a park, some of them flying kites, but it’s a little confusing.

In the bottom centre there’s a very young girl with what looks like a hula-hoop but I’m not too sure why her mother has an olive branch held high above her head. Over to the left, at the bottom, are a couple of young women playing with rings, so that may be what the very young girl is holding on to, not a hula-hoop.

The couple at the bottom right are both holding the strings of a kite, the woman with a spindle and the man with what looks like a hand grips in his left hand but his right hand is seeming to stretch out to the man above, who is holding a large sheet of paper, with some geometric designs on it. Is this a plan for a park, is he an architect, as he doesn’t seem to be there for play?

Above him, still on the right of the image, is a woman holding a large box kite with all kinds of strings hanging from it. Could she be the one who’s holding the kite the couple at the bottom are in the process of trying to launch?

At the very top is a man standing holding both a kite and its strings. Behind him are two women but its difficult to work out what they are doing.

One of the problems of trying to interpret these murals is that here, as with the mural of the musicians in Ujpest, the trees get in the way and these sort of murals are meant to be seen face on. If you have to look at them from the side you get a distorted view of events.

This mural is the work of István Petrilla and was also completed in 1963.

Location;

They are on either end of a block of flats on Egressy út, between Gizella út and Szobránc u., there’s a Spar supermarket on the ground floor.

GPS;

47.508314º N

19.100207º E

How to get there by public transport;

From Keleti railway station take the 5, 7 or 110 (or any other bus that goes along Thököly út) and get off at Gizella út.

Monument to the Soviet Red Army, Liberty Square – Budapest

Posted on 23/09/2024 by Michael

Monument to the Soviet Red Army

Monument to the Soviet Red Army, Liberty Square, Budapest

The monument to the liberating Red Army consists of a column, stepped at its lower levels, surmounted by a large, golden, three-dimensional star. On the face of the column, around half way up, is a golden representation of the State emblem of the Soviet Union.

Below the emblem, in black lettering are the words, in Cyrillic,

СЛАВА СОВЕТСКИМ ГЕРОЯМ ОСВОЂОДИТЕЛЯМ

and then in Hungarian;

DÍCSÖSÉG A FELSZABADÍTÓ SZOVJET HÖSÖKNEK

These translate as;

GLORY TO THE SOVIET HEROES, LIBERATORS

The column sits on a platform which is reached by a short series of five steps on both sides. To the left, rear and right of the column there’s a low wall. On this wall, immediately to the left and right of the column, the names of some of the Soviet fallen officers are engraved in gold lettering. This seems strange to me. Ninety-five thousand Red Armymen must have died in the battle for Budapest but why just single out the officers to be named on the memorial?

There are two, semi-circular bas reliefs – one that most people see on the ‘front’ of the monument and the other at the back.

Monument to the Soviet Red Army – 01

The one at the front depicts a common theme on such monuments, a group of eight Red Armymen advance, weapons at the ready, attacking a position held by the Nazi occupiers. The first group of four, on the left, includes a soldier – who is not shown to be armed – who holds aloft the Soviet Flag (although there’s no indication of the hammer and sickle or a star) whilst looking back, urging those behind to join in the attack. This is a common aspect of such Socialist Realist sculpture and can be seen in, for example, on some structures in Albania and Russia. Another soldier in this group is dragging along a Pulyemyot Maksima PM1910, a heavy Maxim machine gun (versions of which seem to have been used for more than a hundred years).

The second group of four are on the right and they are accompanied by a tank, the gun barrel of which looms ominously above them. Three of them are soldiers with a submachine gun (almost certainly a PPSh-41) and the fourth, at the top, is an officer with a pistol. They are all aiming and firing at the Nazis.

In the background can be seen the outline of some of the most distinctive buildings in the centre of Budapest, many of them ruins, demonstration of the fierceness of the fighting. (Something like 80% of the buildings of Budapest were either destroyed or severely damaged by the end of the final battle.)

Monument to the Soviet Red Army – 02

In many ways the back of the column is a mirror of the front. There’s the emblem of the Soviet Union and the same inscription in both Russian and Hungarian. There’s also a semi circular bas relief but although it is also an image of attacking Soviet Red Armymen it tells a sightly different story.

Here we have a group of four soldiers on the attack with an even more ruined image of Budapest in the background. They are moving from left the right and the soldier on the extreme left is standing and is about to throw a stick hand grenade with his right hand. At the same time he holds a submachine gun (probably again a PPSh-41) in his left hand. The other three of the group are advancing and firing against the Nazi enemy in the seriously damaged remains of Budapest before the final liberation on 13^th February 1945.

A combination of lack of maintenance and climate probably is the cause of the damage to the images at the back. Although providing a green and natural backdrop the large trees behind the monument create a humid environment and in the winter that area probably doesn’t get any sun at all. And there is obvious damage caused by humidity on the bas relief panel. To the left of the panel water damage has changed the colour of the bronze from green to a dirty brown. Above the panel there are signs of mould around the lettering and the Soviet emblem doesn’t shine so bright as it does at the front.

On the other hand the façade that people normally see gets the full force of the sun so there’s an element of self-maintenance here as the damp and mould don’t have an opportunity to establish themselves and grow. Also any damage here would be noticed immediately. On my visit a dozen or more big tour groups stood in front of the monument and were treated to an anti-Soviet, anti-Russian diatribe, with no reference to the fact that the Hungarians were firm supporters of the Nazis and it was a combined force of German and Hungarian fascists that were surrounded in late December 1944 before the final liberation 50 days later.

In the centre of the base of the platform, in gold lettering, is the date ‘1945’, the year of liberation. There’s a small, reasonably well tended flower bed in front of the bas relief panel, with red flowers. On my visit there was also a large bunch of red roses, left at some time in the recent past to commemorate some specific event, unknown to me.

Considering the presence of various fascist groups in Hungary and the constant harping on about the 1956 counter-revolution I’m slightly surprised the monument is in such a good condition. There is a government to government agreement that the monument will not be removed but that wouldn’t normally stop Hungarian Nazi sympathisers.

Location;

Szabadság tér (Liberty Square)

South-east of the Parliament Building.

GPS;

47.50417º N

19.05057º E

Hungarian Railway History Park, Budapest

Posted on 22/09/2024 by Michael

Hungarian Railway History Park

Hungarian Railway History Park, Budapest

To the north west of the city centre, situated in what used to be the principal maintenance and repair workshop for the Hungarian National Railways in Budapest, is a railway ‘theme park’ giving visitors a glimpse of the development of the railway system in the country.

Obviously a mecca for train enthusiasts it also is a place for anyone with an interest in industrial history in general. There are many examples of early East European steam engines as well as redundant passenger, goods and maintenance units. In many ways it also appears to be a bit of a dumping ground for one of every working vehicle from the relatively recent past of the Hungarian railway system. That means that some of the exhibits are in a sorry state of disrepair and whether they will ever be returned to their former glory is debatable (or really very unlikely) considering how long it takes, and how much it costs, to get these massive pieces of machinery back to their original condition.

Hungarian Railway History Park – 01

Some of the things that stood out to me;

the two locomotive turntables, both of which, I think, are still in working order and one of which, the one furthest from the entrance, is regularly used to turn engines around as part of the entertainment of visitors;
a couple of statues of railway workers, near the entrance, which during Hungary’s Socialist period would have been display in a more communal space and not relegated to a museum;
the distinctive shape of the steam engine funnels;
and the way that some of the components were outside the frame of the engine;
an old snowplough, which was attached to a the front of a steam locomotive, with a huge bladed fan which would throw the snow to the sides of the tracks, all encased in a wooden frame. It would have been a wonder to have worked in it – but also, I would think, a bit like working in Hell;
getting up and close to the only regularly working steam engine which, I thought, strangely was one made for the US Army in the 1940’s, incongruously, sports a large Red Star on the front of the boiler. You don’t normally get that close to these spitting and sometimes angry wonders, the result of the first industrial revolution;
the smells of the cinders in the air when the steam engine is in motion, for those old enough to remember, a smell that indicated you were getting close to the museum;
the ability to get a relatively close view of the maintenance and refurbishment workshops, the smells and all that it entails to get locomotives up and running again;
the distinctive style of mid to late 20th century local passenger trains of Eastern Europe (all such modern units are homogenised);
as in all transport museums the class difference displayed in the comfort of the passengers in the various short and long distance carriages.

Hungarian Railway History Park – 02

I went there on a Saturday, which meant crowds of children, but at the same time there was probably much more going on due to the fact there were many people in the park. For example, I don’t think the demonstration of the workings of the turntable would have been so extensive on a quieter day in the week.

Apart from the demonstration of the turntable it is also possible, for an extra payment, to ride on the footplate, and at the ‘controls’, of a steam or diesel engine, something that would be totally unacceptable in anal fixated Britain.

Hungarian Railway History Park – 03

One slight drawback for a non-Hungarian was the fact that there was little information about the exhibits in English.

It is hoped the slide show below will provide a taste of what’s on offer.

Location;

Tatai út 95, Budapest

GPS;

47.54243064388407º N

19.095641067204674º E

How to get there by public transport;

From outside the Keleti palyaudvar (railway station) take the blue bus number 30 or 30A and get off at the Rokolya Ucta bus stop – indicated on the scree, and announced over the speaker, in the bus. Walk in the direction the bus was going and at the first junction turn right. Two blocks down come to a T-junction and the entrance to the park is across the road in front of you.