Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 29. (2001)

A BUDAI KIRÁLYI VÁR ÉS A VÁRNEGYED MINT POLITIKAI, GAZDASÁGI ÉS KORMÁNYZATI KÖZPONT - Fazekas István: A budai királyi palotára vonatkozó források a bécsi főudvarmesteri hivatal levéltárában 49-80

ISTVÁN FAZEKAS SOURCES PERTAINING TO THE ROYAL PALACE IN BUDA IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE LORD STEWARD'S OFFICE Summary Most of the sources pertaining to the construction and maintenance of Buda castle are in Hungarian archives, but given that between 1526-1918 Hungary was part of the Habsburg empire, many of the sources regarding the seat of the Hungarian kings were preserved in the centre of the one-time empire, Vienna. After Buda was recaptured from the Turks in 1686, efforts were made to turn it into a défendable fortress. In line with this concept, the castle's Charles Ill-period palace was a simple edifice. It is no accident that most 18th-century Viennese records are kept in the Kriegsarchiv and the Hofkammer archives. The Hojkammerarchiv largely owes its significance to the artist Sebastian Zeller's engravings which portray the palace as rebuilt by Queen Maria Theresa. Sources in the archives of the Lord Steward's {Obersthofmeisteramt) Office —today in the Hausarchiv, Hofarchiv and Staatarchiv— did not proliferate until the latter half of the 18th century, at the time when the building was converted into the residence of the Palatine, Archduke Alexander Leopold, and in keeping with its new function, had to assume a grandiose appearance. A number of valuable palace inventories have come down to us from that period. Relatively few sources speak of the Buda castle in the early 19th century. The archives, however, abound in the proposals for the grand reconstruction scheme in 1845-1846. The scheme underwent several modifications before it was accomplished, within the next decade. From that time on, practically every important development project was well documented, including Alajos Hauszmann's reconstruction. The Lord Steward's Office —on account of the fact that it was administratively part of the Buda establishment— oversaw the staffing, financing, and maintenance of the Hungarian royal residence until 1918. Documents apart, the map collections of the Hausarchiv, Hofarchiv, and Staatarchiv preserve some superb maps of the Buda castle.