Demeter Zsófia - Gelencsér Ferenc: Örvendezz király város! - Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei. B. sorozat 51. A Fejér Megyei Múzeumegyesült kiadványai 8. (Székesfehérvár, 2002)
A tanulmány forrásai
and the golden pens, made especially for the occasion, fortunately ended up in the museum. The passing of the 24th law in 1938 was announced by Gyula Komis, who then closed the Session. Those celebrating listened to the proclamation of the law and the Szózat (the second Hungarian National Anthem), performed by the Budai Dalárda Male Voice Choir, standing up. After this the spactacle began in the streets. The participants of the ceremonial Session of the Parliament, the members of the St. Stephen Memorial Committee as well as local dignitaries processed through all the town centre from the Town Hall by Szentkorona and Kossuth Street to the front of the County Hall. The sun was now no longer shining so strongly and evening began to draw in. The festive procession, thanks to the excellent organization arrived at a floodlit St. Stephen’s Square. It was now possible to really see one of the year’s biggest attractions in Székesfehérvár, the illuminations! In the square, before the unveiling the statue of St. Stephen, there was one strongly-lit focal point: the image of St. Stephen on the county coat of arms on the County Hall’s tympanum. As the veil fell down (during this time it had, of course, got dark) there, in the middle of the square sparkled the new equestrian statue - a truly magnificent sight! At the front of the procession were local leaders, the Lord Lieutenant, Deputy -Lieutenant and Mayor, followed by the Diocesan and MPs from the Upper and Lower Houses. After these, according to protocol, came national leaders and the Governor, dressed in his admiral uniform and flanked by guards with egret feather and tigerskin saddle bags. The most spectacular section of the procession was the groups of all the Lord Lieutenants and Deputy-Lieutenants of the country. The first stop was the official opening of the Garden of Ruins. On 13th August Lajos Shvoy, Diocesan, led the common “royal grave” funereal ceremony. The Governor then placed a wreath onto the grave accompanied by songs from the Hungarian Railways Choir and Budai Dalárda Male Voice Choir. For this particular occasion Zoltán Kodály wrote his new choral work “Ének Szent István királyról” (“Song About King St. Stephen”). The procession continued with respectful silence and also saw the unveiling of the statue of Louis the Great. The most important event in the evening was the unveiling of Ferenc Sidló’s statue of St. Stephen. The statue was covered in a veil sporting national colours. Few people knew that it was not just any old veil! During the unveiling the plain drapings split in two and with one tug two flags could be seen on the flagpole, on which before there had been no flag flying. Bálint Hóman dedicated the statue with the following choice words, "May the people of Fehérvár, descended from Árpád and St. Stephen, keep their ideals in the future, too!". The first wreath was placed at the foot of the statue by the Governor and after the last one all the church bells in the town rang. Peace returned late this day in Fehérvár. A newspaper correspondant probably correctly summing up this lovely day wrote, "The nation celebrated, it celebrated its first king, and when the law was passed venerating the values of the greatness of this holy king, the nation gave itself a sense of self-esteem. ” ZSÓFIA DEMETER historian 241
