Porhászka László: The Danube Promenade - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1998)

Miklós Izsó and Adolf Hüszár: Petőfi

After the erection of the Eötvös and the Petőfi statues, the Fountain of the Little Gopher Hunters was installed in the park in front of the Vigadó in 1896. Károly Senyei’s delightful, cast-bronze, genre statue depicted two boys about to pour water into a gopher hole. The composition, dynamic though sculpted on a modest scale, was to become a well-liked, standard feature until its demolition in 1945.

Expecting significantly increased custom due to the forthcoming millenary celebrations marking the Magyar conquest of the Carpathian basin, the general manager of the Grand Hotel Hungária, József Illits, acquired the Lévay and the Heinrich buildings. In 1896, Illits had the two buildings turned into a hotel, which was then given the name Bristol. Second in the line of the famous hotels in the promenade row, the Hotel Bristol, with its 102 rooms, awaited its refined guests. Its windows overlooking the Danube afforded an exquisite panorama. Its restaurant, famous for its fine gypsy music and patio, catered to the general public promenading outside as well as to hotel

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