Csepely-Knorr Luca: Barren Places to Public Spaces. A History of Publick Park Design in Budapest 1867-1914 (Budapest, 2016)
Public Park design in Budapest during the second half of the 19th Century
Plan for landscaping the Bank of Danube on the Pest side between Garibaldi Street and Boráros Square, 18S8 / HU BFL XV.ló.b 222/2 neo-renaissance houses had been built on most of the area, narrowing the possible space for greenery, and determining the cityscape, until its destruction in the 1945 siege ofBudapest. The creation of the green space in Vigadó Square, happened at the same time as the planting of the first trees in Petőfi Square in 1866, the former being designed by Armin Pecz Sr., under the supervision of Head Gardener Emil Fuchs.196 According to a 1876 book by Lajos Hevesi in front of the Vigadó a “small but neat and pleasing" square was made, with a fence around it. It was called square’ in the description, pointing to the British examples.197 From this square a double line of trees led to the Chain Bridge. According to the public and satirical papers of the period, it looked rather like a row ofbrooms.198 The Board of Public Works had comprehensive plans for the embankments of Pest. They planned to create a chain of small parks (Petőfi, Vigadó, Eötvös and today s Széchenyi Squares) and a linking promenade in between them. The central element was supposed to be Vigadó Square which was meant to be the “most beautiful square in Pest".199 Nevertheless the municipality built a coffee kiosk after the success of the same type of building on Erzsébet Square. Although a chronicler of the period, László Siklóssy, bemoaned the fact that instead of the ‘most beautiful square’ a stunted coffee garden’ was created, the so-called Hangli kiosk, and the promenade, called Duna-korzó (Danube Esplanade) became a main centre for social life in Pest.200 Eötvös Square was named after the statue of Baron József Eötvös, which was unveiled on 25th May 1879. The layout of the park was made in the following year, according to the plans of Armin Pecz Sr.201 In the contemporary photographs of György Klösz the division can be clearly seen, and in 1900 the journal A Kert published the plans of the carpet beds.202 The green space in Petőfi Square was discussed at the Board’s meeting in May 1888, when they decided to build a fence for safety reasons, after it had been transformed into a play area for children.203 The plans of the green spaces along the Duna-korzó Promenade were also designed by Armin Pecz Sr.204 Today’s Széchenyi Square, at the time Ferenc József Square, had an extremely important role among the symbols in Hungary at the time of the Compromise. Firstly, the Hungarian Scientific Academy was built there, and this institution had acted as national symbol continuously since the Reform Age.205 Secondly, at the coronation ceremony of Franz Joseph I (Ferenc József) in 1867, the coronation hill was built there, in the axis of the Chain Bridge. As part of the ceremony the new king made four swordcuts from the top of the hill. To build it, soil from every shire and royal free city was transported to the capital.206 The top of the hill was approachable from three directions, and the ramps were flanked by stone balustrades; A scene at Vigadó Square, engraving by Gusztáv Morelli Az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia írásban és képben. Magyarország III. Budapest, 1893. p.147. / ADT The newly planted trees of the promenade on the banks of the Danube at the future Petőfi Square around 1870 László Siklóssy, Hogyan épült Budapest? Budapest, 1931. p. 311. 51
