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
these were designed by Frigyes Feszi, and were similar to the ones in the main staircase of the Vigadó.207 The hill remained for ten years after the coronation, and the final layout was only finished in 1877. The plans were approved by the General Assembly of the Municipality in 1876. The first design for the square was created by Feszi in his entry to the city development competition in 1871.208 This plan shows an almost identical arrangement to Trafalgar Square in London. In the axis of the Chain Bridge -instead of the coronation hill - he proposed the placement of a major statue. He designed an equestrian statue on top of a high ionic column, and various groups of statues surrounded it at the base. The square was divided by the main statue, and another two statues were planned at the trisecting points of the space. In Feszl’s bequest a statue-plan for King Matthias Corvinus and for another equestrian statue, similar to the one from his competition entry, also survived.209 After Feszi, the senior engineer of the Board of Public Works, Ferenc Reitter, also created a plan, originally with five statues. On the left and on the right from the extended axis of the Chain Bridge two smaller green areas were planned, and a third on the opposite side of the square in the axis of the bridge. The two small green areas on the two sides would have given space for two statues each. Closer to the bridge monuments of medieval Hungarian monarchs, Saint Stephen and Matthias Corvinus, were planned, while closer to the surrounding buildings, statues of 19th century statesmen, István Széchenyi and Ferenc Deák.210 The third green area was supposed to celebrate the current king, Franz Joseph, and the equestrian statue would have depicted him at the moment of the sword cuts.211 In between the statues, the creation of ornamental carpet beds was planned. On the final plan, dated 1876, the number of statues were decreased to three, the remaining ones being Széchenyi, Deák and a yet-to-be-decided equestrian. The then fashionable carpet beds decorated the green areas around the statues.212 The square was finally finished with two statues, under the head gardener Emil Fuchs. In 1888 Hermann Jäger in his book 'Gartenkunst und Gärten sonst und jetzt' mentioned that Franz Joseph Square is a “new urban garden (square), where various coffee houses extend their catering area".lvi The description is an important piece of evidence for active use and the role the space played in the social life of the city. A description, dated 1885 described the Dunakorzó as a space where “leafy trees and green and flowering shrubs are The Danube Promenade on a postcard, before 1917 / HU BFL XV.19.d.2.c 382 girdling the statues of great men".2'4 If we look at the green spaces of Duna-korzó with their statues, depicting the most important figures of Hungarian history and art of the 19th century, it echoes Hirschfeld’s idea about the importance of patriotic garden art. As forerunners of this area, the monuments in the garden of the National Theatre and the National Museum can be mentioned.215 The promenade on the embankments of the Buda side had started with the building of the bridgehead of the Chain Bridge. On both sides of the bridge two ornamental green spaces were created, based on the plans of the Board of Public Works in 1873, and the planting of the double Horse Chestnut avenue and the small ornamental green spaces around the embankment started at that time as well. The avenue was planted from Pálffy Square (today Bern Square) to the Rudas Baths. The two small historic revival-style green areas next to the bridgehead of the Chain Bridge, created according to the plans of Ármin Pecz Sr., show how the ornaments used in private gardens were incorporated into small-scale public spaces.216 The area was created as a large carpet bed, and it was intended to serve for aesthetic pleasure and strolling. It was transformed according to the plans of Keresztély Ilsemann, when the new tramline was built. The comparison of the two plans shows the changing stylistic principles of the period. In Ilsemann’s layout, the carpet beds were abandoned, and a much simpler planting scheme with a lawn and a shrubbery replaced it. Frigyes Feszi, Regulation plan of Franz Joseph Square, with the elevations of the houses facing the Danube, 1871 / HU MNL-OL Til No. 3b/2SS-2S6 55
