Secret tunnels discovered under Hungary’s first mall in Budapest!

The renovation of the first mall of Hungary is currently underway, and although it was originally planned to be inaugurated this spring, due to some circumstances, the historic building will only be open to the public next year.

The history of the building goes back almost a century since it was inaugurated on March 1^st, 1926, founded by the company German M. J. Emden und Söhne from Hamburg.

The cinema

Before the mall opened, there was a cinema at the lot, called the Apolló mozi, which was the first permanent cinema in Hungary built for screening movies, Index writes.

The Oscar-winning creator of Casablanca, Micheal Curtiz (born as Mihály Kertész), produced his first feature films within its walls, the site added.

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The mall

Construction began in 1924, and the building was designed with care and attention to detail, adorned with several statues, reliefs, and carved details all throughout the building, as well as with beautiful lamps.

After opening, the mall became very popular and was the staple of Budapest fashion. It not only attracted customers from Budapest and its surrounding areas, but people even went shopping there from abroad.

Apart from selling fashion pieces, lingerie, shoes, and hats, people could visit a railway ticket office, a household goods store, a carpet store, as well as a photography studio, a café, and a restaurant.

Clothes were fitted to customers by 60 seamstresses, and free brochures were sent out by post so that people could see the available products and, if needed, people could order tailoring to their own homes.

Customers were amazed when the country’s first escalator was installed in 1931.

However, history left its mark on the building, and conflicts and revolutions left it damaged, and the original façade was hidden behind metal sheets. However, the renovation, which aims to restore the old glory of the place, is underway.

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Secret tunnels

According to Infostart, when the construction work demolished the walls, they found out that there was a tunnel behind the meat counter leading east under Somogyi Béla Street. The tunnel, although walled in, led to the former Sajtóház (press house).

It is suspected that this tunnel was constructed in 1951 and was used to carry large sheets of paper which weighed hundreds of kilograms via forklifts moving on a railway system from the deposit of Szikra Press.

During the demolishing of the former Sajtóház (press house), the owner had ordered the tunnel to be walled in.

The other tunnel was discovered on the south-western corner of the mall. It is a tunnel with a sloping floor ending in the basement of an apartment house nearby.

Olivér Balogh, the head of the company renovating Corvin Áruház, believes that it might have been built during the construction of the mall itself and allowed guest workers to easily enter the construction. However, some people disagree with this theory, and the truth is still unknown.

Infostart also writes that while Corvin Áruház might mainly function as an office building, a section of the building will be made into a mall, with a Spar store, cafés, a fitness centre, and several store units to populate the area.

With a higher quality of services (previously a ruin pub), the upstairs terrace will also be open to the public, with the new addition of a sky bar-like bistro. The mall will open in the spring of 2023.

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Source: index.hu, infostart.hu, Daily News Hungary, epiteszforum.hu