Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)
Kós' First Steps as an Independent Architect
MUNICIPAL ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL GARDENS 1907-1912 The history of the construction of the Budapest Zoo The latest findings of Olivér Perczel based on his studies of the documents in the Municipal Archives of Budapest. The predecessor of the Municipal Zoological and Botanical Garden opened in Budapest in 1866. In 1907 the city bought the Zoo, by then bankrupt, and started a five-year renovation project. The old buildings were gradually demolished and new ones erected. In the following account, we shall present the process year by year. 1907 On the 23rd of February Minister of Internal Affairs, Count Gyula Andrássy, disbanded the by then bankrupt Society for the Introduction of Animal and Plant Species. When they looked into the Society's documentation, it turned out not only that proper inventories had not been kept of the Society's possessions, but that there was no membership registry or indeed, even ticket checking at the entrance of the zoo. As a result, the minister decided to ‘disband the society and terminate its functioning because of the breaching of the regulations and in order to protect the financial interests of the members’. According to the minister's decision the real estate assets of the Zoo became municipal property. The next meeting of the Council of Budapest commissioned the head of the financial and economic department, Council Member Dr Tivadar Body to carry out the complete survey of the Zoo. Meanwhile, the City assumed responsibility for the ongoing functioning of the Zoo itself and they began a register the buildings the very next day, the 1st of March. On the 11th the head of the municipal police force was called upon to ‘be so kind as to instruct the police patrol units on duty in the nearby City Park to keep continuous watch over the Zoo, and especially the so-called Director's Office building near the entrance’. This made it possible to start making the inventory of all Zoo property in safety. Nothing escaped the attention of the council members who had been assigned this job - they took stock of all the real estate, movable goods and, of course, animals belonging to the zoo. The value of the buildings on the territory - not counting the restaurant and the so-called Ősbudavár (‘the Ancient Castle of Buda’) - was estimated to come to 169,367 crowns, the renovation costs to 147,166 crowns and the value of the animals to a surprisingly meagre 51,627 crowns - having been deliberately estimated so low so that the city would have to pay less for them to the original owners, the Society for Introducing Plant and Animal Species. The meeting of 22nd March commissioned the Council to ensure the further functioning of the Zoo, while the Circus and the night club that had been renting ‘the Ancient Castle of Buda’ building were given permission to function until the end of the year. A smaller committee was appointed to oversee the management of the Zoo, with the participation of Dr Béla Feleki, Dr Imre Légrády, József Márkus, Dr Hugó Preyer and Dr Vilmos Vázsonyi. The next day veterinary doctor Zoltán Rátonyi was appointed temporary director. The meeting of 10th May ruled that ‘the Great Lake be drained, its bottom cleaned and where needed deepened, its bank be given a waterproof layer ofstone’. In the meantime, the Zoo kept on working uninterrupted. Between 1st March and 31st December 130 078 visitors went to see the new attraction of Budapest. As an anti-theft measure, during the summer months every day between 2pm and 8pm a police constable in uniform was on duty within the Zoo. Numerous purchases were made to widen the range of animals on display. In May the committee decided to buy four seals for 600 crowns, two young male lions (approx. 8 months old, preferably already having their permanent teeth) for 1400 crowns, four saddle-broken horses or, preferably, ponies for 900 crowns’. The zoo received animals as donations as well. Hapsburg Duke Joseph generously donated two young badgers, while Count Ráfáel Zichy offered a brown bear, which arrived in early October. The proprietor of the neighbouring Beketow Circus contributed one deer, three zebus, one yak and a mule. October saw some substantial purchases: Ferenc Sárossy Várady from the town of Pécs offered his collection of animals for sale for 3200 crowns - it included several kinds of birds, 28 monkeys and 9 squirrels, with the necessary feeding and nesting equipment. The zoo took over 608 animals from its predecessor, the Society for Introducing Plant and Animal Species. Fortunately, as a result of purchases, donations and natural reproduction, however, by the end of the year this number reached 1036. The City of Budapest and the lawyer representing the Society for the Introduction of Plant and ■ Contract for the sale of the Zoo BFL IV.1413.C.1 H Left'. Sketch design for the Bird House, the watercolour is considered to be the work of Bálint Szeghalmi, then an architecture student Magyar Építőművészet, 1909.6. H Valuation documents of the Zoo BFL 1V.1413.C.5 71
