Budapest, 1946. (2. évfolyam)
2. szám - KŐHALMI BÉLA: Szabó Ervin emlékezete
BUDAPEST ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL REVIEW PUBLISHED BY THE CITY OF BUDAPEST THE RESURRECTED TOWN HALL On the day the Pest side of the capital was finally liberated, representatives of Hungarian democracy met in the premises of the Hungarian Communist Party. Amongst these present at the meeting were MM. Zoltán Vas, Péter Bechtler, István Kossá, Imre Oltványi, János Csorba, Gyula Ortutayand Ferenc F arkas. The meeting entrusted M. János Csorba with the functions of the Mayor of Budapest and M. Péter Bechtler with those of deputy mayor until such time as the National Committee of Budapest was formed, a body that represented the Government which then was still in the provincial town of Debrecen. On the 22nd January 1945, these appointments were confirmed by the National Committee of Budapest. At that time, one of the principal wings of the Town Hall was still in flames ; the other had suffered such extensive damage during the siege that it could not then be used. This is how it happened that the true resurrection of the Town Hall took place in the headquarters of the Municipal Water Works in one small room where there was only one writing table and one typewriter. It was from that modest room that were issued the first necessary instructions. Regulations were issued regarding the burial of the dead; instructions were given that the bakeries must be opened without delay ; steps had to be taken to clear the streets of rubble; the population was urged to return to their homes from their unhealthy air-raid shelters; it was necessary to reorganise the public utility services and meet the thousand and one demands of the population. Towards the end of January, the Mayor was able to move in again into the Town Hall itself which, where possible had been provisionally repaired. With the Mayor came the many hundreds of employees that go to make up the administration of the Municipality. To begin with, the offices had to be put into such a state that they could be worked in and the civil servants, hand in hand with the workers engaged on rebuilding the building, toiled ceaselessly amidst the din of battle as the siege on the Buda side was raised only on the 13th of February. Right up to that time the Nazis, who had dug themselves in the Vár, continued to shell the liberated parts of the capital. One inay therefore say that the resurrection of the Town Hall, and the organisation of the civil administration of the Municipality on democratic lines began at the same time as the siege raged on the Buda side. The task undertaken by the Mayor in conjunction with the civil administration and the workmen was a glorious episode in the life of the capital. Sándor Lestyán THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE KOSSUTH BRIDGE Following the introduction of the allimportant land-reform measures, the construction of the new, permanent Kossuth Bridge across the Danube must be regarded in the light of a major achievement of the budding Hungarian democracy. Since the conclusion of the war this is the first permanent bridge to have been constructed across the Danube from the Delta to Vienna. Now, it serves as a permanent link between Buda and Pest, between the West and the East. It was only thanks to the determination and understanding existing among the workers and the engineers engaged on the task that the bridge came to be built. The many difficulties were overcome, the extremes of climate ignored and the meagre rations made to suffic. The iron-work came from the now wrecked bridges across the Danube, the necessary wood from the floating swimming baths and the demolished buildings. Though Budapest will be without swimming baths on the Danube this year, it will be provided with a bridge. The outstanding dates of the construction of the bridge are : 16t h May 1945. The special working gangs begin construction. 11t h June. At a meeting of engineers, deputy Mayor József Kővágó stated that he would disavow his status as an Hungarian engineer if the first piles are not being driven within a fortnight. 17t h June. Pile-driving begins a week before the time limit set by deputy Mayor Kővágó. 3r d Ju1 y. The first pile stands. Gala luncheon : bean soup. 5t h August. All the piles are now standing. Gifts of money and beer to the workers. 20t h August. St. Stephen's Day. The first concrete shell stretches to the bed of the river. Work is not halted for one minute in spite of the meaning of this day to the Hungarians. 16t h Sept. The first concrete pillar is ready. 15, h Oct. Work has to be suspended owing to the flooded state of the river. 9t h Nov. The first fatal accident. András Szabó, a stone mason, falls into the river and is drowned. 17t h Nov. The »József Attila« floating crane places the five-ton bridge section into position. 1s t Dec. All the eight pillars are ready. 24t h Dec. Despite the Christmas Holidays, work continues and only the nightshift is called off. 6t h Jan. 1946. The floating crane puts the two principal girders into place. Each girder measures 57 meters. 9t h Jan. Ice floes form and the bridge is threatened. 11t h Jan. Communications between Buda and Pest interrupted. The temporary bridges have been swept away by the ice pack. The Kossuth Bridge stands firm. 18t h Jan. In the presence of his Cabinet colleagues, M. Gerő, Minister of Comminucations, formally opens the bridge. Communications between Buda and Pest and have been restored. Even after the bridge was declared open, the bridge builders cannot slacken their efforts. Now, they are working on the Francis Joseph Bridge which they hope to repair so completely by next summer that it will be available for tramways communication as well as for pedestrian and motorcar traffic. BUDAPEST OF THE FUTURE Competition for plan of a modern Budapest The first prize of the competition inviting architects to submit ideas for the lay-out of a modernised capital planned in keeping with the demands of the XX. century was awarded to Aladár Jánosvölgyi-Münich whose entry was submitted in a plan entitled »A four cornered town«. M. J. Münich's project incorporates approved developments of modern town planning, introduces the latest technical achievements and profits of the unique occasion for reconstruction offered by the immense devastation caused by the war. The author of this project clearly understands the many difficulties that have to be faced and endeavours to find a solution for them in his plan of a capital with almost 1,500.000 inhabitants ; he has conceived a modern, practical metropolis, provided with wide streets, green belts dividing towering blocks of flats open to sun and air and has planned lovely and hygenic garden-suburbs where the workers will not only live in pleasant and healthy surroundings and conditions, but also find easy and safe access to their work along the spacious thoroughfares constructed to serve thousands of cars. The tragic spectable of a siegebattered capital fades before that of the future Budapest, planned to be even more beautiful, in keeping with modern demands and conceived on a grandiose scale. Despite this, the project is not Utopian for it is enough if we recall the circumstance that the inhabitants of Budapest a hundred years ago, when they had experienced all the misery ensuing from a lost Liberty W^ar and the perils of a flood in theit capital itself, hardly dared to dream of the construction of the Széchenyi Chain-Bridge, let alone of a XX. century metropolis with a population of over a million. Endre Morvay THE NEW ACQUISITIONS OF THE HUNGARIAN MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS The exhibition of the works most recently acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts is a milestone in the history of our artistic life if we remember how immense was the chaos caused by the war and the siege of the Hungarian capital. It is due to the energy and discrimination of its Director General, M. István Genthon, that the Museum was able to acquire four of the finest works from the collection of Baron Herzog as well as a number of very valuable paintings of both Hungarian and foreign origin from the estate of the late Elek Petrovics, Jenő Káldi and Andor Dudits. Amongst the exhibits, attention must be drawn to a triptych by Adrian Ysenbrandt, to »The Apostle« by el Greco, to »Vir dolorum«, the work of a XVI. century German artist as well as to the works of the greatest Dutch, German, French, Italian and Spanish masters. The Hungarian masters are well represented by the works of Károly Markó, Mihály Munkácsy, Károly Ferenczy, József Rippl-Rónai and Béla Czobel, to select a few names at random ; Hungarian oculptors by Fülöp Ö. Beck, Beni Ferenczy and Pál Pátzay. Jenő Kopp 96
