Faurest, Kristin: Ten spaces - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

Klauzál tér

■ Klauzál tér, tg6s

Gábor Klauzál, who was a statesman, member of the Hungarian Parliament and considered to be one of the most talented members of the reform opposition. The square doesn’t have a particularly noble beginning. As Antal Váradi wrote in Memorteó of Old Pest (A régi Pest emlékei): "In the centre of today's Erzsébetváros is a godforsaken nest of filth, István tér. It was a square in the sense that it wasn't built up, but in every other sense it is a heap of trash. And to this place Gyula Miklósy dreamed up his own theatre, the third Hungarian theatre, which the city erected.’’

There was indeed a theatre here, one whose owner held high ambitions for it. Gyula Miklósy, a rural theatre director, managed the short-lived theatre here from 1872—74, purchasing the wood- and iron-framed children's theatre building in the park and creating the István tér theatre. He attracted actors who were fed up either with countryside theatres or the National Theatre, and the company had a ballet group as well, under the leadership of Miksa Storch. On October 30, 1872, with a prologue by writer Mór Jókai, the theatre was christened. Miklósy, whose real ambition was to create a real competitor to the National Theatre, eventually had to admit that he could not exactly compete with such a national institution. So he began present33