Breathtaking PICTURES: Reviving Buda Castle Palace to become accessible

Thanks to the National Hauszmann Programme (Nemzeti Hauszmann Program), the Buda Castle Palace (Budavári Palota) will soon shine in its former glory. As part of the programme, the palace will soon be restored to its original appearance, most of its interior will be rebuilt and parts of the building will soon be accessible.

The Buda Castle Palace suffered extensive damage in WWII

The Buda Castle Palace, designed by Alajos Hauszmann in the neo-Baroque-Art Nouveau style, was completed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Its ornate exterior and interior, its vastness and its unrivalled location made it one of the most ornate royal residences in Europe, the National Hauszmann Programme wrote on its Facebook page.

During the Second World War, the building suffered extensive damage. The remaining decorations were stripped and the palace was rebuilt in a simplified form from the 1960s onwards. All over Europe, the trauma of WWII was almost immediately compensated for by replacing the destroyed architecture. However, the communist leadership in Hungary wanted to erase the past for good, the post writes.

Accordingly, the Buda Castle Palace was given new functions later. It became the home of the Hungarian Labour Movement Museum (Magyar Munkásmozgalmi Múzeum), the Hungarian National Gallery (Magyar Nemzeti Galéria), the Budapest History Museum (Budapesti Történeti Múzeum) and the National Széchényi Library (Országos Széchényi Könyvtár).

The previously unified building complex had been split into several small, independent wings, each with its own entrances and internal infrastructure. The individual buildings are still marked with letters, but these do not indicate any internal content.