Hungarian Conservative

‘Picture writer’ is the old name for a painter, a term used by Benczúr to describe himself, even officially, for example when signing a contract of sale of an estate. ‘By choosing Gyula Benczúr’s self-definition as the main title of the exhibition, we want to draw visitors’ attention to the fact that the exhibition offers new approaches to his oeuvre through a “re-reading” of the works of art and primary written and pictorial sources,’ says curator Evelin Páll.

Ferenc Deák, the primary facilitator of the Austro–Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the country’s first Minister of Justice, and the namesake of so many public spaces and institutions in Hungary today, passed away 148 years ago on this day.

Sándor Wekerle was born 175 years ago in 1848. While being one of the most remarkable and enlightened Hungarian politicians of the Compromise era, he was largely exiled from history in the twentieth century.

Count István Tisza is still blamed by liberal and left-wing historiographers for Hungary entering WWI, despite clear evidence of his anti-war stance. It is rather anachronistic to hold Tisza to democratic standards that did not exist at the time and with the wisdom of hindsight: the knowledge of how the war ended.

As all the Danube bridges were destroyed by the retreating Germans, tram service could start again between the two sides of the city over Liberty Bridge only on 20 August 1946.

Francis Joseph, King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria, was born on 18 of August in 1830. He left a complex legacy, but, at least in Hungary, he is mostly remembered as a benevolent fatherly figure.

‘The kuruc were never mindless rabble-rousers, just like the labanc were never simply unpatriotic traitors. While the merits and good practices of kuruc and 49ist politicians have been been amply publicised and celebrated, the labanc side was often sidelined, and as a result, their perspectives and values are still missing from contemporary politics. It would be worth devoting more attention to the ideas of the Young Conservatives from the Era of Reform. They understood that while our interests must be unwaveringly represented and fought for, Hungary cannot stand alone in turbulent times.’

The minister reminded all that the independent Hungarian Ministry of Finance was the first lasting success of the revolution. In April 1848, Lajos Kossuth began working on the establishment of the ministry, and it started its operations in May of that year.

In 1860, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and King of Hungary issued a decree mandating the establishment of commodity exchanges in the major cities of the Habsburg Empire. As a result, the Pest Lloyd Association was commissioned to create a stock exchange plan, which not only included a commodity exchange but also envisioned the establishment of a stock exchange.