Benkő Andrea: A Guide to Petőfi Literary Museum (Budapest, 2009)
The History of the Palace
THE HISTORY OF THE PALACE parties, where, for example, Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886) had played the piano. During the bloody reprisal following the War of Independence in 1848-49, Jellasics and then also Haynau laid eyes on the beautiful building and set up their quarters in it. Haynau lived in the Palace for a year (1849-1850) and signed the death sentences in the back room on the first floor opening northwards from the library (today a work room). He allowed the Count's family to use a few rooms only. György Károlyi was imprisoned for having supported the revolution and was only released on payment of a large ransom. Lajos Batthyány, prime minister of the first independent government of Hungary, was taken to prison from this building in January 1849. His memory is preserved in an embossment on the Henszlmann Street side of the Károlyi Palace. Restoration work on the building continued after the 1840-5Os as well. Miklós Ybl (1814-1891), a talented young man who was just becoming a distinguished builder and who later designed numerous famous buildings (e.g. the Opera House), carried out lesser or greater construction, reconstruction and repairs on the Palace. He designed a greenhouse and fireplaces. The decorative design of the Chapel in the 1880s can also probably be associated with his name. During the decades of the 19th century, the Palace was considered to be one of the famous social hubs of the Pest aristocratic world. At a ball organised by Count The Hall of Mirrors Gyula Károlyi and his wife, Geraldine Pálffy, even Emperor Franz Joseph made an appearance (1883). In the modernising drive of the first few years of the century, Mihály Károlyi (1875-1955), an important figure in Hungarian history, wanted to have the Palace demolished so that tenements could be raised in the same place. Due to the protestation following the newspaper articles he changed his mind and had the building modernised and equipped with new bathrooms and kitchen appliances, while in the first decade of the 20th century part of the stable was converted into a garage. In October 1918, the walls of the Palace once again witnessed historic events - it was there that the Hungarian National Council came into existence under the leadership of the Count, who supported the bourgeois democratic reforms. In January 1919, Mihály Károlyi became President of the first Hungarian Republic, and then in 1920 was forced into exile. His wealth was confiscated and the Palace nationalised. In 1946, having returned home, the politician was given back the building, but later in a ceremony he once again offered it up for the benefit of public education. He is commemorated in an embossment on the Ferenczy Street side wall of the Palace. The Budapest Picture Gallery (1932-1953) 9 In 1928, the capital bought the building for 5 million pengős (the Hungarian currency until 1946) so that the
