Hungarian Conservative

As Budapest commemorates its 150th birthday this year, a grand celebration awaits all who join in the festivities.

Today’s Budapest was created on 17 November 1873 by the merger of Pest on the left bank of the Danube and Buda and Óbuda on the right bank. The rich and tumultuous history of these settlements has been documented since the 11th century.

The legendary photographer passed away 83 years ago today. His ambition was not to commemorate the political elite, the aristocracy, or the world of finance of his time, but rather the contemporary intellectual giants of Hungarian society, the progressive Hungarian intelligentsia, and the luminaries of culture. Thanks to his professional expertise and empathy, his photographs captured the essence of the personalities of his subjects.

National anniversaries, especially 15 March, were regularly celebrated in the Dohány Street synagogue. Mourning services were also held on the occasion of the passing of great Hungarian statesmen. In addition to the regular services, the synagogue also hosted a number of special events. On 20 December 1860, a ‘Jewish–Hungarian brotherhood’ ceremony was held, attended by statesmen, scholars, writers and artists, and for the first time, the Szózat was sung in a Jewish synagogue. On 8 April 1861, a memorial service was held for István Széchenyi, and in 1894 for Lajos Kossuth.

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.

In 1869, the new statistical office of the capital was created, headed by Kőrösy. A few years later, he started to teach statistics in Budapest, the very first person to do so in Hungary. In 1896, he became a doctor of the University of Kolozsvár (today, Cluj in Romania), and was awarded nobility and the title of szántói, as well as the right to spell his name with a ‘y’ (indicating noble ancestry). The family never converted to Christianity, though, and the Kőrösy coat of arms included two stars of David.

In the spring of 1848, there were a series of revolutionary movements aimed to overthrow or reform monarchical government systems and create new nation states throughout the whole of Europe, which partly contributed to the outbreak of the Hungarian Revolution in Pest on 15 March 1848.