Csepely-Knorr Luca: Barren Places to Public Spaces. A History of Publick Park Design in Budapest 1867-1914 (Budapest, 2016)
Public Park design in Budapest during the second half of the 19th Century
conventional layouts for carpet beds, the simply copied designs, and the whole process which ended up with creating a carpet bed in every public space, regardless of the conditions of the soil or climate. He also disapproved of the principle of bedding out plants just because of their curiosity and not because of aesthetic values or horticultural decisions. Hsemann recommended the creation of carpet beds at important points in the park, such as to mark the main axis. He believed that these needed to be used as the main attractions of a garden space, and that one should not plant curiosities "next to every dusty road”.23s Among his main principles, simplicity and transparency came first. The analysis of his writings underpins his key role in expanding and advocating solutions and theoretical principles, especially for public open spaces. In 1897 press reported about a new fountain to be placed in the square designed by Antal Széchy.236 The first accounts about the major redevelopment of the square were published in 1905. The plans recommended the destruction of the central carpet bed, and the creation of a new fountain and new monuments. The first plans were to erect a statue of the physician Ignác Semmelweis and one for the famous educator, Mrs. Pál Veres, and to place the monuments at the comers of the square.237 However, the plans were altered, with more statues to be placed in the square as memorials to leading 19th century Hungarian artists and authors Mór Jókai, Károly Lotz, János Fadrusz and Ferenc Liszt.238 As the statue for Mrs. Pál Veres was a seated statue, it was intended for the middle of the square.239 The main carpet bed was regarded as the chief ornament of the square, and its destruction was strongly opposed by horticultural and gardening professionals. To mute the criticisms, the Director of Municipal Engineering Department asked the Head Gardener to be involved in the process of designing the surroundings of the new fountain. The plan proposed the creation of new promenades and lawn areas. In 1906 the statue of Mrs. Pál Veres was finally erected, and Ignác Semmelweis’ statue by Alajos Stróbl was finished the same year, and was placed at the southern end of the square. As the new programme for the statues consisted of only two, just a small part of the square was redesigned. In 1907 the Kiosk was altered, and the building gave way to the so-called Nemzeti Szalon, housing a fine arts association and its exhibition spaces. Although the idea of remodelling the square emerged again, the Board of Public Works did not consent to it. In 1913 the redesigning of the square was again on the agenda because of the envisaged erection of a new main Town Hall: plans were published in professional journals, but not realised. The idea of enriching the park with monuments indicated the reappearance of the Hirschfeldian idea of educating the visitors in national history through statues in public spaces. This idea had special importance at the end of the 19th century in Hungary. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasise, that in this case, instead of creating statues of the heroes of national history, famous figures of arts, sciences and education were supposed to be remembered, which shows the growing importance of civic pride, and shows how public parks became symbols of this. These spaces were created with the financial contribution of the residents of the cities, through their councils and municipal governments, were open for everyone, and therefore their educational aspect was supposed to strengthen this pride.240 To put Erzsébet Square into an international context, Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool can be mentioned, where the statues depicted major figures of natural history, such as Charles Darwin, John Parkinson, André Le Nôtre and Carl Linnaeus beside the explorers, Christopher Columbus, Captain James Cook, Gerardus Mercator and Henry the Navigator. In the 1890s the greening of market squares got under way again. In 1891, after the reports by Lajos Lechner, Károly Kammermayer and Győző Czigler241, both the General Assembly of the Municipality and the Board of Public Works accepted the plan for the creation of a system of Market Halls. An important part of the idea was that the Halls had to be built next to existing market squares, but built in the building line, so that the squares could be used as public parks.242 In May 1891, the Municipal Committee recommended one main Market Hall and seven branches. Out of the seven, five were supposed to be built on the Pest side, and two on the Buda side. The five Halls in Pest were built shortly after the report, while in Buda only one, at Batthyány Square was built, quite a few years later. The other one in Buda was supposed to have been constructed under Gellért Hill, close to Erzsébet Bridge. For the design of the main, Central Market Hall an international competition was announced, and was built to the designs of Samu Pecz243 between 1894 and 1897. At approximately the same time, between 1894 and 1896, four branches were built as well: the market hall at Hunyadi Square and Hold Street were designed by Győző Czigler, the ones on Rákóczi and István (today Klauzál) Squares were designed by the staff at the Municipal Office of Public Works.244 73 Statue of Ignác Semmelweis on Erzsébet Square by Alajos Stróbl, postcard from before 1912 / Private collection
