Ságvári Ágnes (szerk.): Budapest. The History of a Capital (Budapest, 1975)
Foreword
its extraordinary capacity to take in the scientific, artistic and architectural currents of Europe, and its powers of assimilating them. Through its powers of invention and its particularly individual taste, Budapest has created much that is new. Its quality as a European city is rooted primarily in its quality as Hungarian; we may even say, its “Budapest quality”. Our future lies in the planned development of the city on a greater scale, in the modernization of the municipal administration, and in extending the democratic process in public life, and these aims may well be helped by a description of the experiences of the past hundred years, and a discussion of their value. Our thanks are due to the Corvina Publishing House for its decision to commission this book. We trust that the editorial principles on which it is based will be approved by the reader: the historical outline is accompanied by a chronological list fitting the principal events into the framework of national and European history. The documents on the administration and development of the city and the pictures illustrating key moments in the history of the city lend authenticity to the short historical description. On behalf of the Municipal Council of Budapest I welcome this project of the Corvina Publishing House and the authors of this volume, who have planned and envisaged a design rather different from that usually found in centenary publications. We realize, of course, that it is impossible to include every event relating to the progress of past centuries and the hundred years of the capital in the pages of this book; many important details have had to be omitted. I am nevertheless confident that this short account provides a vivid picture of the progress of the capital and makes it possible to compare our history and progress with those of other capitals. Zoltán Szépvölgyi Chairman of the Budapest Municipal Council 9
