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THE HISTORY OF BLAHA LUJZA SQUARE
The origin of the name
Blaha Lujza Square was named in 1920 after the immortal member of the National Theatre, the "nightingale of the nation" as she was referred to.
The legendary figure in the history of the Hungarian acting profession was born in 1850 in Rimaszombat as Lujza Rendl. She was extremely popular at an early age as a child actor. In 1864 she already played in the Népszínház (People's Theatre) in Buda. She acted in Gyor, Sopron, Székesfehérvár, Bratislava, Subotica, Banska Bistrica. Following her marriage to conductor János Blaha (1866), she began using the name Lujza Blaha, and then had immense hits as a prima donna of the operetta stages. The National Theatre signed her up in 1871, where she sang in operas, operettas and acted in plays for the ordinary public. When the Népszínház opened in 1875 she decided to join it and acted there until 1901.
She was honoured with numerous major awards, and in 1900 she was awarded the prestigious golden cross with a crown. Besides that, on her 70th birthday the square in front of the Népszínház in Pest was named after her. She died on 18 January 1926.
The building that used to be the most famous one in the Square
The National Theatre (formerly known as Népszínház)
The Népszínház, built in 1875, between 1908 and 1964 hosted the assembly of the National Theatre.
First Count István Széchenyi, the great Hungarian statesman and economist dreamed about a National Theatre on the banks of the Danube. He intended to have a majestic building constructed and wished to run it as a company limited by shares. The Count was the advocate of the building of a monumental theatre in his pamphlet titled "About the Hungarian Theatre".
In its 41st decree of 1836 the Hungarian Parliament ordered the creation of a lavish national theatre on the plot allocated in the city of Pest. It operated in the Hungarian Játékszín from August 1837 to 1840 named as Hungarian Theatre of Pest, then as National Theatre. The building on the corner of Rákóczi Street and Múzeum Boulevard was torn down in 1913. The building of the Népszínház in Blaha Lujza Square was rented for the theatrical company.
The demolition of the building was decided in 1963 due to the allegedly complicated construction of the subway. The theatre operated there until 1964, then on 23 April 1965 the building was blown up.
Source: www.nemzetiszinhaz.hu
Other buildings in Blaha Lujza Square
The Corvin Department Store
The Corvin Department Store first opened its doors for customers some 75 years ago on 1 March 1926 in Blaha Lujza Square. The Corvin was founded by the Hamburg-based company of M. J. Emden Söhne with a joint stock of one million pengos (the currency of the time). Miksa Lewin, a German businessman, was the vice-president of the public limited company as well as the first head of the department store. The department store was built next to the National Theatre. The Corvin was based on the plans of Zoltán Reiss drafted in classicist style with a palace-like façade. Despite the façade appearing to hide a single floor, there were four floors behind it. The huge windows covered the façade from top to bottom with almost invisible wooden inserts separating the floors. A hall of two floors with a glass ceiling greeted the customers after entering. The interior surfaces and spaces were decorated with the statuesque works of Fülöp Beck Ö. and Szigfrid Pongrácz.
The department store attracted a wide range of customers with the help of numerous factors such as its shop-windows facing three different streets,
its central location, moderate price level, and frequent sales. It was also easily accessible for customers arriving from the countryside due to the
nearby Eastern- and Western Railway Stations. Customers spent hours in the department store without being forced to buy anything. They were entertained
by a cheap and good-quality restaurant, a café, transportation ticket office and a photo shop. Shopping meant entertainment at the same time.
People flocked to the fashion shows and art exhibitions organized in the department store. Salon music provided customers with a pleasant background
for their shopping spree every afternoon. The staff was equally polite with everyone. Following the construction of the department store,
the junction of Rákóczi Street and the Grand Boulevard became the busiest one in the capital therefore it is no surprise that the first traffic
lights of the country were installed here on 23 December 1926.
The first escalator in Hungary set up in 1931 inside the department store further
enhanced its charm and appeal. In 1930 the Képes Naptár of the newspaper Pesti Hírlap praised the department store as follows: "This
single building encompasses an entire, small town and it has become the leading fashion store in Europe due to the development and efforts
of the management. Apart from thousands of people from the capital polishing its doorsteps every day, it also serves as a meeting point for
customers from the countryside all too eager to buy great value at a great price as well as for foreigners well-aware of the fact that the
fashion industry of Budapest does not lag behind Paris or London in terms of taste, quality and conscience…Since as the fashion of Europe is
set in Paris, the fashion of the capital is dictated by Corvin with vast expertise."
The department store has managed to maintain its popularity until today. The privatisation of Corvin started in 1992 and its process of renewal is expected to gain momentum soon.
Editor: Csongor Kiss
Source: www.mtmuhely.hu
The Press House
The former Press House is to be reborn
The former headquarters of the Newspaper Publishing Company, which stood abandoned for years in Blaha Lujza Square, is to be reborn soon.
A new, modern office building will be constructed hidden under the original façade of the former Press House with a budget of HUF 4-5 billion.
The headquarters of the Newspaper Publishing Company was created in the late 1940s, early 1950s on the plot bordered by Blaha Lujza Square,
Somogyi Béla Street and József Boulevard. The building was fashioned from two former apartment blocks and the premises housing the editorial
rooms and printing house of Budapesti Hírlap. Following the unification of the three buildings the one at 7, József Boulevard could keep its original
façade of artistic value, while the others were provided with a uniform design.
The house thus created became a major spectacle at the square, which had been characterized by the National Theatre earlier, and it also accommodated dozens of editorial rooms for decades (Népszabadság, Esti Hírlap etc.)
The building, which was emptied in the years following the fall of the communist regime, is going to be revived by Duna Office Center Kft. owned by the property development branch of the Austrian Volksbank that is Immoconsult Wien. The company purchased the building from ÁPV Rt. after a tender and the partial demolition of the Somogyi Béla Street side of the building was already begun following the required plans, demolition and building permits.
Basically the old building is going to be gored. Of course the József Boulevard façade of the house is going to stay the same, and the façade of the five-storey Press House is going to be preserved mostly since it is an integral part of the Square. Behind the façades, however, a brand new, advanced office building is going to be constructed with eight floors.
The developers faced a difficult challenge due to the necessity to preserve the façade. Apart from keeping the wall of the façade, they intend to do the same with a whole unit behind it thus keeping a row of rooms. It can only be carried out though if they build two parallel corridors running at different height at the lower floors since the floor to ceiling height of the old offices - originating from the 19th century - is considerably higher than that of the new ones.
As we learned from construction engineer Gábor Fekete, the head of the project, an office space of 21 800 square meters gross will be created in the new premises. On the ground floor of the house a passage with a right angle turning will be formed thus connecting Blaha Lujza Square with József Boulevard. Along the passage altogether 2900 square meters of shops and a restaurant will be established. The restaurant, which will naturally also serve the needs of those employed in the building, will have two entrances: the main one from the passage, but it will be accessible directly from the offices as well.
A garage of four floors will be created deep under the house with a capacity of 296 cars. In order to provide such a relatively high number of parking spaces an automatic system of car placement will be installed on each floor. This system will deliver and park the cars - after the owner gets out and locks it - in compartments next to each other, and the automatic system delivers them back to the owner when leaving. However, the vertical movement of the cars was discarded although it would have provided additional parking space. It has been widely experienced that the inhabitants of Budapest tend to dislike this practice for some reason.
Although the number of parking places is still some fifty fewer than the number required by regulations for the given office space, the shops and the restaurant, it is not expected to cause any trouble due to the good public transportation, the nearby subway station and the tram stops in the Grand Boulevard.
The entrance of the subterranean garage will be accessible from Somogyi Béla Street where the building with the unattractive façade at number 4 will be completely demolished. In order to provide uninterrupted entry and exit, arrangements have to be made with the Közlönykiadó Vállalat (Records Publishing Company) operating in the building next door since its publications are expedited from there.
The technical aspects of the garage's construction are not simple either. The former sandy bed of the Danube is situated under the building. Partial demolition was required so that the machines may access the building site and the geological examination of the ground could be carried out. However, the company is in possession of the essential technology and facilities and as they have obtained a lot of beneficial experience in Kálvin Square - where the work process was even more complicated due to the nearby tunnel of the subway - no hardship is expected during construction at this time.
The investment with the preliminary budget of approximately four or five billion forints is expected to be completed in two years' time.
Author: István Csík
Source: www.ingatlanbefektetes.hu
The construction of the subway
During the rebirth of the capital following the destruction of World War II, the idea of building a subway line emerged once again. KPM started the preliminary work in 1949 and the decree of 5 September 1950 passed by the Council of Ministers stated: "An underground railway network has to be constructed in Budapest. The subway system must consist of two main diagonal lines - one from east to west and one from north to south - as well as a circular main line connecting them." The decision was essentially the more sophisticated version of the one from 1942. "During the first five-year planning period the main line from east to west must be constructed between the newly built Népstadion (People's Stadium) and the Southern Railway Station." Originally the subway line was scheduled to open in 1955. The construction plan was based on the subway in Moscow and it kicked off in 1950. For three years the work progressed along Rákóczi Street and the tunnel under the Danube was also being constructed. The television prepared encouraging films about the heroic struggle of the workers involved, but the work had to be halted in 1953 owing to the lack of funds, therefore the handover planned for 1955 had to be postponed. In the next ten years the preservation of the existing facilities was the only goal, and work was started once again only in 1963.
Source: www.sulinet.hu
In the middle of the 1960s the construction of the underpass started as well. According to the original plans, it had to be spacious enough so that in certain cases (i.e. if extra financial resources become available) the street traffic of the Grand Boulevard could pass through it. The main canal of the Grand Boulevard, however, presented major problems (similarly to the construction of the 'small' underground some seventy years earlier) as it is visible very well in the picture on the left. Its roof had to be removed so that there would be sufficient space for the underpass. It is worth mentioning that contrary to present practices, in the 1960s the maintenance of public transport was paramount: cars were banned and the tram tracks were replaced continuously so that traffic could pass without major interruptions - albeit a bit slowly.
Source: www.hampage.hu
Astoria subway station was designed in the existing tunnels afterwards, therefore the construction work was deemed paramount. As a result the National Theater at Blaha Lujza Square was demolished.
Blaha Lujza Square with tram tracks and then without them
The tramlines in Rákóczi Street were removed in 1972 to meet the demands of the increased car traffic.
The tram stops used to be located on the Danube side of the Grand Boulevard with stairs leading to both from the underpass. The traffic islands were wide and long thus following their removal the lanes could be placed closer to the axis in the middle. As a result, the area on the spot of the former National Theatre increased (the street used to pass the exit point of the underpass nearest to the Corvin Department Store, now the lanes are further away).
The building site gap in Blaha Lujza Square and the EMKE Office Building
The empty building plot seen on the opposite side of the street was in such a disorder until the 1990s,
then in 1992 the most advanced and distinctive building of the time, EMKE Office Building, was constructed there. It is still considered a unique building with an atrium design.
Pictures from archives: from the collection of Zoltán Ádám Németh
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