Molnár József - Szilas Péter: Night Lights - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1993)

Here are some of the technical data characteristic of the buildings selected for the experiment:

Floodlit object Total Capacity

no. of lights in kw

Fishermen’s Bastion and

the Mátyás Church

72

83

St. Gellért Statue

14

15.5

Citadella on Gellért Hill

89

88

St. Anna Church

20

20

Garrison Church

17

22

Look-out tower on János Hill

457 bulbs

18.3

The events of the 1934 Gymnasts’ World Cup, together with some other festive occasions, were held in Budapest, which is why the most important buildings were floodlit until 11 pm for 24 consecutive days.

In 1935, the Electricity Works suggested that the Millenary Monument, Vajdahunyad Castle, the Parliament Buildings and the Royal Castle should be floodlit. The total costs would have come to 200,000 pengős, but the Lord Mayor of Budapest would only contribute 25,000 for these purposes. That amount only covered the floodlighting of the Millenary Monument and the central cupola of the Royal Castle. However, the lighting of the cupola and the facade of the Castle turned out to be such a great success with the public that it was decided that the Castle’s two wings should also be lit with 70 floodlights. While the standards applied when selecting the buildings to be lit and the technical solutions adopted strove for perfection, 1935 also saw a less than fortunate endeavour. The Mayor’s Office decided to mark the upcoming events to celebrate the national holiday of 20 August (St. Stephen’s day) with something truly spectacular. The Electricity Works was commissioned to install a garland of coloured bulbs stretching a kilometre and a half in length between Margit and Erzsébet Bridges. Their intention was to raise the festive mood by creating an effect similar to that of so many Chinese lanterns, even though the lights used were not housed in lamp units.

“The garish lighting destroyed the festive mood,” reported the daily Magyarság. “On Friday night a dis30