Rózsa György: The Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

I. The history of the palace's design and construction

stations, train terminals and watch-houses, as they convey no thought, but there cannot be Gothic Academies as they must convey ideas which are impossible to express through the Gothic style." After exhibiting the plans in the National Museum, their release and violent debate in the press, Budapest was enriched with its first monumental public building in the second half of the 19th century when the Building Committee accepted Stüler's plan, which undoubtedly was the most suitable, modified according to local requirements. Its clearness, the noble harmony of its proportions, and its perfect perspective made it one of the most prominent sights on the Danube embankment. Although the fact that the committee awarded the commission to a foreigner supported the view that Hungarian architects of the time were incapable of carrying out a task on this scale, nevertheless, it is also a fact that the wide-ranging debate and Stüler's work gave a new impulse to Hungarian architecture. Besides the aesthetic debate about the styles of earlier ages it would now be considered strange for a scholar, even if cooperating with practising architects, to participate in architectural design. Károly Pulszky, already quoted earlier, formulated the concept of late eclecticism at the turn of the century: "Who doubts these days that any style is suitable for a monumental palace that can satisfy practical requirements; and who is not aware that all of them are as specifically Hungarian as not; that various architectural styles are not the private property of nations but the common heritage of modern culture to be drawn upon by all architects according to the demands of the tasks to be accomplished." Construction work, supervised by Ybl and Skalnitzky on behalf of Stüler, lasted from April 1862 to 1865. For financial reasons, between 1863—1864 a block of flats was built at the back of the plot, designed by Ybl and supervised by József Diescher (about 1811 — 1874) who was site architect at the construction of the palace as well. Total expenditure, including the cost of the site and block of flats, amounted to 1 million florins. Although the weekly meetings were already held in the unfinished palace, formal inauguration took place only on December 11th, 1865. A medal by Karl Radnitzky of Vienna (1818-1901), an album by Ignác Schrecker, containing photographs of the 250 members of the Academy, and the "Memorial Volume for the Inauguration Ceremony of the Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences" (Pest, 1865) preserve the memory of the ceremony. At the time of the design of the palace its upper floors were already taken into consideration to accomodate the exhibits of the Esterházy Gallery, transferred to 9