The Missing Visit to Kossuth Square

Sitting astride his horse, Rákóczi Ferenc, commands a place of pride just outside the Hungarian Parliament. I have tried to digest a short statement of his role in Hungarian history but, alas, it is too complicated for me to do it justice. I'll just say here that he was nobleman who fought to gain greater independence for Hungary from the Hapsburg empire in the early 1700's. Although his efforts failed, he set important precedents for future attempts. More details can be found on Wikipedia.

On the day of this visit back in October of '19, it was cloudy and cool. Nevertheless, there were people in the square and soldiers about making a show of protecting the parliament building. 

Like a secular cathedral, the detailed ornamentation of the building is quite impressive.

Soldiers were present in their dress uniforms to make sure that all ceremonies were performed and to show the importance of the place.

Across the square is the building that was the former home of the Ethnographic Museum. Pretty much the same photo here that you saw before. The cloudy sky makes it much more dramatic.

Another important person in the history of Hungary is Kossuth Lajos for whom the square is named. Below is the statue to honor him. This is in fact the third statue in his honor in this square. The first was carved by János Horvay and showed Kossuth along with the other members of the first Hungarian parliamentary government.

Then in 1950,

... the government of Mátyás Rákosi, Stalinist dictator of Hungary, ordered the dismantling of the "pessimistic" memorial. Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl made a new bronze statue of Kossuth pointing towards a brighter future with a raised hand. Although the sculpture is a typical product of its age, Kisfaludi Strobl was a talented artist who managed to picture Kossuth as a great orator. The new memorial was inaugurated in 1952. 

Finally, in 2012, a major rehabilitation of the square was undertaken and Stalinist statued was moved elsewhere and replaced with an exact replica of the original. This is what we see below.

Also honored in this square is Tisza Istvan, who, as described in Wikipedia He

... (22 April 1861 – 31 October 1918) was a Hungarian politician, prime minister, political scientist, international lawyer, macroeconomist, member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences and champion duelist. The outbreak of World War One played the most important role in his second term as prime minister. However, his life was cut short when he was fatally shot by leftist revolutionaries on 31 October 1918 during the Aster Revolution - that day when Hungary declared its independence and, as a result, Austria-Hungary dissolved.^[1]