Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 28. (1999) – Urbanizáció a dualizmus korában: konferencia Budapest egyesítésének 125. évfordulója tiszteletére a Budapesti Történeti Múzeumban

A VÁROS KULTURÁLIS ÉLETE ÉS A POLGÁROK - F. Dózsa Katalin: A társasági élet szerepe a XIX. században Budapest világvárossá válásában 303-318

KATALIN FÖLDI-DÓZSA SOCIAL LIFE IN A CITY GROWING INTO A METROPOLIS: THE CASE OF THE 19'"-CENTURY BUDAPEST SUMMARY In the 19th century, social life acted as a very important instigator in the creation of metropolises. In the first half of the century, Vienna, Paris and London all competed with each other. But starting from the second half of the century, Paris won over the other cities and became the most prominent social venue, which was due to Napoleon Ill's wife, Eugenia, who was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world. „There is no enjoyable social life in Hungary, and this is the first sign of the country's decline and ailment", complains István Széchenyi in his diary in April, 1827, after returning from Vienna to Pest. In the next couple of years though, the situation changes: „As a matter of fact, there are hardly any other cities where they organize so many balls as in Pest, so if you feel like it, you can go to a dance every night, starting from the first to the last day of Carnival", writes an enthusiastic British traveller, John Paget in 1839. Beside balls, social life included a number of compulsory and accompanying events, such as promenades, theater performances, sporting events, as well as scientific and artistic programs. Starting from the 1 860's, the social life in Budapest followed a strict pattern which was similar to the ones in Paris, London or Vienna. In autumn, the first significant event was the horse-races, which was also the final event of the season in May. By the beginning of November, everybody usually returned from the country estate, or from trips abroad. The members of high society regularly attended the visitors' gallery in the Parliament, along with the meetings of the Kisfaludy Society and the Academy of Sciences. True social life began, however, when both the new theater and opera seasons opened. At the end of December, it was Carnival, which provided excitement for both youngsters and their parents. Starting from early-January until February the 15th, they organized balls almost every day, the most prominent among them was considered the Lawyers' Ball. The Promenade was the meeting place for aquaintances, and the „accidental" rendezvous place for couples in love. This is where you could pass judgement on other people's clothes, and where the lower layers of the middle class could catch up on the latest fashion trends. Budapest had several promenades. The City Park (Városliget) was the Hungarian Bois de Boulogne, or the Prater. Váci Street, the Southern Promenade, which was full of elegant downtown shops, was considered the Hungarian Champs Elysée, or Graben. In the Reform Era, the leading figure of social life in Pest was István Széchenyi, and similarly to him, the other members of the elite also came from among the young nobility. The fact that the Royal Court, including the King and the astonishingly beautiful Queen Elizabeth regularly resided in Buda after the coronation, lead to qualitative changes in the social life of Budapest. The other outstanding couple of the elite was Prime Minister, Count Gyola Andrássy and his famously beautiful wife, Countess Katinka. Both commoners who had similar occupations or lived near each other, and noblemen, established clubs and casinos. The National Casino was the meeting place specifically for the aristocracy. The gentry layer attended the Country (Országos) Casino, and the bourgeois layer frequented the Lipótváros Casino. Every district and trade had their own club or society. Even women established their own societies. These were places where the women's rights movement started, such as the Women's Training Society chaired by Mrs Pál Veres, as well as forums where wealthy ladies belonging to different social circles could meet. There is no impressive social life without spacious and grand exteriors and interiors: salons, reception halls or ballrooms. This is the reason why they built increasingly larger palaces, and buildings suitable for social entertainment, such as The Redout, hotels, restaurants and club rooms. Broad streets and squares were constructed to facilitate promenades, along with trade centers, shops and department stores which were adjusted to these new developments. Besides being the social center of the region, by the end of the century, the unified Budapest had also come to par with the other leading European capitals from an architectural point of view. 318