Hungarian Conservative

The building complex, designed by acclaimed Hungarian architect and designer Károly Kós and housing the most important Hungarian cultural institution beyond Hungary’s borders, will reopen on 26 October.

The national narrative that Hungary is the bulwark of Christianity and Western Civilization was formed in the battles won on the lands of present-day Serbian Vojvodina, also known as Vajdaság in Hungarian.

‘I thought, there is communism at home, half of the world is godless, they don’t know God or don’t consider Him important, and nobody wants to be a priest anymore… Thus, out of some kind of Hungarian defiance, I decided that I would become a priest.’

Pál Teleki, prime minister of Hungary in the interwar era, was probably one of the most tragic figures of twentieth century Hungarian history. He was torn between his conscience and geopolitical reality, a tension he could only resolve by ending his own life as a shocking act of protest.

Hungary is not just a great country to live in, but also a nation with rich history that sparked the attention of many excellent historians from all around the world. A list of books about Hungarian history definitely worth reading.

The exhibition from the Seoul History Museum in Budapest presents the daily life and holidays of Koreans, as well as the system of values and symbols that permeates their society in the delicate patterns and variations of clothing and interior design. In each piece of clothing, not only Seoul’s traditions, the wearer’s status, education, age, and gender are represented, but also their fate and daily life.

Popular for its oriental gastronomy and classic café atmosphere, this busy spot of the capital has become a real cultic public space over the past years. It is open every day of the year, from morning till night, and is always full of students, writers, actors, journalists, artists, freelancers from the creative professions, and anyone else who wants to be part of one of the most, if not the most, chic meeting places on the bustling Bartók Béla Boulevard.

Hungarian director Béla Tarr is set to be honoured with the Honorary Award by the President and Board of the European Film Academy at the 36th European Film Awards in Berlin on 9 December.

The Mariazell Basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary is one of Austria’s most popular tourist attractions and a national pilgrimage site. Its foundation dates back to the mid-12th century, yet the construction and re-foundation of the present church in the 1370s was due to a generous donation from King Louis the Great of Hungary.

The first documented piece of Hungarian music dates back to the 11th century, thus recorded melodies have been an important part of Hungarians’ lives for a thousand years.

From Cat Catcher to The Witness and Son of Saul, the list of the ten best Hungarian films offered by The Budapester is a subjective, but very convincing one.

We are familiar with the phenomenon of Westerners embracing Eastern fighting traditions such as Wushu, Aikido, Japanese fencing, Filipino martial arts, and more. These people seek some rich traditions to connect to, and oftentimes romanticize them as being spiritually superior to the Western martial arts. Whereas there is nothing wrong with getting acquainted with other cultures, there’s no necessity to travel half of the globe in search of intricate, deep, and time-tested martial traditions spanning centuries.

‘Transhumanism—at least in the form in which it is represented and explained by Harari—stands, above all, on the ground of anti-religion. The mechanical man, who becomes immortal, as the meaning and purpose of history, is above all the opposite of the eschatological perspectives of all religions.’

The 13 martyrs of the 1848–49 Hungarian War of Independence are commemorated on 6 October every year. However, the struggle for independence had other, forgotten heroes, too, like General János Lenkey, the ‘14th martyr of Arad’.

Péter Pázmány, Cardinal Archbishop of Esztergom, was born on this day in 1570. Despite being born into a Protestant family, he became the leading figure in the Counter-Reformation, and had a major impact on the development of the Hungarian language and the establishment of higher education in Hungary.

Fundamental rights and their supplementary responsibilities are essential parts of our culture and heritage, the speakers at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s (MCC) conference on human rights agreed. The event examined the process of the distortion of the idea of human rights as well as the vital role of sovereignty and subsidiarity in enforcing them.

The Rubicon Institute organized a large-scale conference on 23 September that focused on the reawakening of the century-old field of geopolitical thinking, shedding light on the connections between geographical conditions and political decisions.

Béla Bartók, one of the greatest musical geniuses of the 20th century, and his friend, another world-renowned giant of Hungarian music, Zoltán Kodály undertook together their major endeavour of national significance—collecting and publishing the full corpus of Hungarian folk songs.

The 26th President of the United States, one of the most popular and influential people to hold the office, Theodore Roosevelt became the first US President, incumbent or former, to set foot on Hungarian soil when he gave a speech in the Hungarian Parliament in 1910. He was invited by his friend Count Albert Apponyi, whom he had hosted in the White House for lunch in 1904.

Since the regime change, we have had eight heads of government, of whom only Viktor Orbán has had more than one term. With his current term running until spring 2026, he has every chance of becoming a historical record holder after 16 years in power.

Blue sky above, turquoise lake below, and between them, on the horizon, plenty of white sails gleaming in the distance. This is the image of Lake Balaton that millions of Hungarians have seen for generations, and which always draws them back to the shores of the ‘Hungarian Sea’.

István Bethlen was a dominant figure in early twentieth-century Hungarian politics. Contemporary conservatives have much to learn from him regarding consolidation, pragmatism, and opposing radicalism.

Despite all the uncertainties, the chronicle written by Master P., or as he is known to many because of the obscurity of his person since its discovery, Anonymus, has been one of the most important documents of the search for Hungarian historical consciousness and identity.

Although Hungary had already cooperated with the alliance during the Yugoslav wars, 9/11 was the first major event when the country had to demonstrate its commitment to the alliance and collective defence as a full-fledged member of NATO.

The life and works of Sándor Márai, a prolific Hungarian writer and intellectual, serve as an example for conservatives everywhere, urging them to protect their nationhood and oppose totalitarian ideologies.

‘One of the most dangerous trends we are seeing in the West is the increasing deployment of the rule of law for instrumental political ends.  We are seeing this in the European Union, just as we are seeing it used in the United States, with those in power invoking the rule of law as a weapon against political dissidents and adversaries.  This should alarm all of us, no matter where we are personally situated on the political spectrum. ‘

The recent article by Máté Sibrányi and Gábor Virágos in the Kommentár magazine outlines the importance of preserving our architectural heritage, and charting more of our church ruins. According to the authors, these ruins are part of our Christian heritage, and therefore deserve more attention.

‘If a society is exhausted in immanence, if people are not aware of the finitude of their own life, knowledge, and power, and if every goal of the person, the state, and politics is directed towards material interests, then the state will be exactly that Civitas Terrena, which is also Civitas Diaboli. Everything is justified by the stronger interest (Hobbes), pragmatism and secular science serve the immanent power goals of the great Leviathan, while real wisdom, taste, and arts, that make life pleasant (or just bearable) start to decline, wither, dissolve into a gigantically increased bureaucracy called the state.’

For generations, the heroic deeds of the defenders of the Eger Castle have given the Hungarian people strength and fortitude. Although the area under Ottoman occupation expanded and, in the following years, the Sultan managed to reassuringly stabilize his presence in the Carpathian Basin, our predecessors could draw strength from the example of Dobó and his army in later years.

‘Hungary is a literal crossroads nation between Europe and Asia due to its geography and culture. It exists on the edge of Western civilization, as can be seen in Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations. In his book, “east” of the Hungarian People starts what he describes as the distinct Orthodox civilization, and nearby also lies the Islamic civilization. Even though Hungary is now a part of the West, it still has links to the East, which is most notable through language as well as cultural origins and heritage.’