Prohászka László: Equestrian Statues - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1997)

1.5 tons, was melted down, to be reused, in all probability, for the Stalin monument raised in 1951. (This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the by-then superfluous base was demolished in 1951.)

Luckily, the story has not reached its conclusion with that. In 1993, the Foundation for the Restoration of the Görgey monument called upon the public to raise the funds meant to cover the expenses of the statue’s reconstruction. László Marton is the artist selected to sculpt an exact replica to be based on surviving models of Vastagh’s destroyed original. Although not in its original place but within the walls of the Buda Castle, the statue is planned to be erected on the Fehérvár Bastion in 1998 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the War of Independence.

It is a miracle of sorts that a third piece by György Vastagh jr. in Castle District survived the military operations of 1945 with only minor damage. The statue of András Hadik (1710-90) was unveiled on 29 April 1937 at the spot where Úri utca intersects with Szentháromság utca. Few are aware that the statue is a memento of World War I being a monument to the one-time 3rd Royal and Imperial Hussars. Following the example of the 2nd regiment, the former officers of the Arad-based regiment, founded in 1702, started a fund-raising campaign and spent the proceeds on erecting the statue. A glass case built into the Haraszt limestone of the pediment contains a document with the name of every hussar of the regiment who had died in battle between 1702 and 1918. On either side of the base is an inscription informing the public of the dual functions of the monument. The one on the left recounts the events in the career of general Hadik:

András Hadik 1710-1790. Due to his courage and talent he rose from the rank of common hussar to generalship. He fought against the Turks and then in nearly all the battlefields of Europe in the Austrian War of Succession and the Seven Years’ War. In recognition of his merits he was created count. Later he was appointed Lord Lieutenant, Governor of Transylvania and the Chairman of the War Council. He was the first to advocate that serfdom be abolished in Hungary.

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