Szablyár Péter: Step by step - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

Historic ceremonial stairs, central staricases

front stairs were completed by 1844 (the great Pest flood of 1838 devastated the area and much of the building materials were lost). The sculptural groups designed for the top of the sidewalls were never completed, but their absence did nothing to mar the overall effect. The dignity of the stairs leading, with the interruption of a wide landing, to the entrance is augmented by the ceremonial stairway on the inside.

The building and its garden became an important, albeit still controversial, scene of the Pest revolution that broke out in 1848. By now it has become clear that it was not Sándor Petőfi who recited his famous poem revered today as a national prayer of sorts on the steps of the museum (the poem was read by actor Gábor Egressy instead). It is a fact, however, that the image has come to be fixed in Hungary’s national narrative with the story being reinforced by the plaque on the sidewall of the stairs, and the legend being perpetuated by the government-sponsored festive celebration performed on the museum stairs every year. This historic set of steps became, once again, the scene of political protest in the 20th century. On 20 January 1969, Sándor Bauer, a Budapest student, set himself on fire as a gesture of protest against the dictatorship. A plaque on the sidewall nearest Kálvin tér keeps his memory alive.

One feels dwarfed among the giant columns to be greeted by an overawing spatial effect on entering via the huge gate. The tension-filled expectations of the entry are relieved by the sight of the entrance hall, the main lobby and the start of the central staircase, all strung on a single axis. It is here that one is confronted with the characteristic ornamental features of neo-Classical architecture: most of the decorative elements are of an ancient origin. The visual power of the three-flight ceremonial stairs and the peculiar order of the colonnade are enhanced by the unique lighting effect which virtually lifts up the visitor. Pollack achieved this by allowing light to pour inside exclusively through the longitudinal windows and the entrance.

The three-flight marble stairway opening from the circular entrance hall is 19.28 metres long and 16.28 metres wide. On its longitudinal sides the space here is articulated by a colonnade each. These did not receive their final, fully ornamented, shape until after Pollack's death. Leaving the stairs one first enters the rotunda, the lobby of the ceremonial hall.

Adding to the wonderment of the visitor is when he or she recalls the names of all the great historical personages who once treaded on the stairs here. As early as 1848, the Upper House met here and representatives also assembled on these premises for the Diets of 1861 and 1865 and then, after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the building once again served as the venue of Upper House debates until the construction of today's Parliament building.

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