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

by the famous sculptor Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl, as well as the most important statues in the Castle district.

In order to make the streets of Budapest more pretty, the authorities invited tenders for the formal and technical modernization of lamp posts. Designs made by successful entrants were realized in Heroes’ Square and Újlipótváros.

The last significant floodlight installation before World War II was the decorative lighting of Vajdahunyad Castle in 1939. Of all similar monuments in Budapest, that building is possibly the one which can be floodlit to the best advantage.

The Budapest Electricity Works did not only excel in the planning and installing of floodlighting systems for decorative purposes. The management decided to install a lighting system, for the first time in the history of Hungarian sports facilities, in the Latorca utca stadium, applying a technology hitherto only used overseas. A 28 metre iron pole was erected at each of the four corners of the stadium, and mounted by 12 floodlights. The lights flooded the field with daytime light the first time they were used, and made visible even the balls in mid-air. The facility, which was formally inaugurated in June 1939, added a new colour to the sporting life of the capital.

It was in these years that sign lighting, too, was given a boost. By the end of 1933, there were 1391 electric signs connected to the power lines of the Electricity Works. The lit windows and shop signs were later to become a virtual part of the street lighting and an indispensable feature of the night scenery.

In 1937 the Electric Works announced that the capital already had as many as 3300 sign lights, but also had to conclude that the number of subscribers for such services still fell short of expectations given the needs and potentials of a capital city with a population of more than a million. Its traders had not yet fully realised the potential power of this modern medium of advertising.

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