Szablyár Péter: Step by step - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)
The Rebirth of styles - the stairs of Historicism
■ Luxury, pomp and circumstance... nal Bank in Szabadság tér). He did not stop at applying this principle to the creation of robust walls, unbending bars, and awe-inspiring gates. The entrant is overawed by the sheer elegance of the staircase with its dazzling and yet restrained grandeur. The competition involving both Budapest- and Vienna-based architects was announced in 1901, and construction work based on the award-winning plans started in 1902 under the supervision of Sebestyén Mészner. The investment, which cost four and a half million korona, was completed in 1905. Working on the block-size complex housing the Hungarian National Bank today were the leading artisans of the period, and they did an excellent job indeed creating something of enduring value from the specially reinforced vaults through the wood-graining of the various wall and furniture surfaces to the ornamental glass panes. The external fronts of the elegant building are adorned with Károly Sennyei's reliefs representing various banking activities, but works by Ede Mayer, István Tóth and Béla Márkup also appear. The sumptuous building would have been incomplete without Miksa Róth's stained 34
