Gábor Eszter: Andrássy Avenue – Our Budapest (Budapest, 2002)
From Oktogon to the Körönd The second section of the avenue now begins. The street islands of Oktogon are continued as walkways that run parallel with the avenue all the way from here on. The buildings on either side are now at a greater distance from each other, which is why more space is left open, and the row of trees can have a bigger part to play. The first section of the avenue was characterised by huge blocks of flats with only one public building, the Opera House, among them. There are two real mansions along the second section, and two blocks on the right-hand side were originally designed to function as public buildings. Here, too, the most significant building on the right is an apartment mansion (No. 52 Andrássy út). It was designed for the Haggenmacher family by Henrik Schmall, Miklós Ybl's former site architect. The first owner was Henrik Haggenmacher Sr, a magnate of Swiss origins, whose name was entered in the annals of Hungary's industrial history as the founder of the Haggenmacher Beer Brewery in Kőbánya, after beginning his career as a miller's journeyman in Buda in the 1850s. By the 1880s he had accumulated such a fortune that he acquired the Seven Houses mentioned above. (Later this group of buildings was ■ The former Andrássy Mansion (No. 59 Andrássy út) 32
