Földes Mária: Ornamentation - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1993)

pavilions, articulated by lead-lined windows used to hide the building’s lift. Now only descriptions given by the elderly tenants can help us imagine what the wooden paneled, elegant lift looked like with its mirrors and benches inside. Today its shaft is used for ventilation.

It is still rumoured that the architect committed suicide because of the huge overspending incurred due to the luxurious features installed. The fact of the matter is that this last job completed by Henrik Schmahl, who died of a fatal disease, survives as a luxuriously appointed palace, which is splendid even in its somewhat dilapidated present condition.

Stepping out from behind the railings on the Petőfi Sándor utca side, it is the headquarters of the Hermes Hungarian General Exchange Co. at no. 5 that we first catch sight of. The capitals featuring heads of the winged figure of Mercury (or Hermes) and those of dancing

No. 5 Petőfi Sándor utca, part of facade

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