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Budapest 100 years ago: 10 familiar places that have changed a lot – PHOTOS
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Budapest is admired for its historical buildings and architecture that preserved the past one or two centuries, but despite it having undergone a lot of change, some structures or squares have not aged. The following ten places were collected by femina.hu.
Hungary has developed dynamically and gradually between the Austro-Hungarian compromise of 1867 and 1914. The urbanisation process of Budapest was relatively fast, thanks to the changes in the social layers, trade, infrastructure and industry.
It was only a matter of time for Buda and Pest to unite and become one strong city, which actually took place in 1873.
At that point, Budapest was considered a metropolis, which became a modern city in just a blink of an eye. The companies dedicated to constant development and improvement appeared one-by-one, contributing to the quick advancement of Budapest. Thus the Hungarian capital could become the rival of not only western-European but also American cities in several aspects. A lot of the iconic places in Budapest are from this era.
The organisation of Budapest is thanks to the city’s development branch, which was called into being in the 1870s. The inspiration came from the circle-like road organisation of Paris. The subway and the tram lines were part of the preparation process for the millennial celebrations. At the same time, the piers and squares were established, new bridges were built, along with buildings that are considered monuments today. The buildings were designed by such geniuses as Imre Steindl, Frigyes Schulek, Alajos Hauszmann, Ödön Lechner and many others.
Even foreign architects submitted their city-development plans.
Join us for a journey back in time, where you can check out for yourself how much has changed since the 1900s.
View of Tabán (area in district I) from the Gellért Hill. There are two elements missing from this photo that are key sights in Budapest today.
First is that the Neo-Gothic Parliament was not yet built.
The 1902 realisation of Imre Steindl’s plans was very costly, but also very much worth it. The other one is that the city’s second bridge is missing too: the Margaret bridge was finished in 1876.
