Gerle János: Palaces of Money - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1994)

Part of the furnishings designed by Gyula Kaesz and carefully

RESTORED FOR THE THEN NATIONAL SAVINGS BANK AND THE COMMERCIAL

and Credit Bank (plans by Péter Wagner)

CJnderstandably, in the period between the two World Wars the network of banks did not outgrow its existing buildings, even though it underwent significant transformations. Needless to say, several new branch offices opened, which have not survived in their original form. One of the few exceptions is the Commercial and Credit Bank (designed by the König and Wagner Studio), whose building at no. 20 Károly körút has been restored in an exemplary fashion, which most faithfully reflects the large-scale elegance of the modern style. (The original building and the surviving furniture were made in 1939 for the National Savings Bank to plans by Gyula Kaesz.)

The most significant financial building erected in the period was the Financial Institutions Centre at the corner of Szabadság tér and Október 6 utca (László Lauber and István Nyíri, 1938-40). The decision taken by the jury of the competition in 1937 was subjected to several attacks right from its announcement, because the building was not seen to blend with its surroundings. Protests had swelled into a scandal by the time construction began, because the work of the two designers, who are now regarded as outstanding figures of domestic architecture, came short, according to some, of

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