Budapest in 1908

“Can these things be.
And overcome us like a summer’s cloud,
Without our special wonder?”
- Shakespeare: Machbeth, Act 3, Scene 4

W. B. Forster Bovill: Hungary and the Hungarians, 1908 - CHAPTER VII

BUDAPEST AS IT IS

BUDAPEST is always at its best at night. I should prescribe the Corso on a clear night as the vantage spot. Look up at the old fort at the top of the Gellérthegy as it stands out cold and white in the night. There is a Venetian look about the Buda bank, with the Palace, Cathedral, St. Gellért’s statue, and the Ministerial Offices all silhouetted out unmistakably. And if you need a touch of romance, just gaze at the myriad twinkling lights, which look like stars curiously wandering from their courses. Then the Danube! Stockholm is beautiful with its impetuous river, but it has not the unique situation that Budapest is proud of. Lean a few moments on the rail placed to prevent you from disturbing the serenity of the many trams that pass to and fro, and simply gaze at the picture unfolded, and don’t try to think. Unless I have hopelessly misread the character of the race, the whole spirit of the nation will come stealing over you. Those “tumultuary silences,” and “the incomparable pomp of eve” will invest you with just that wonderful something, which Hungary possesses, and yet, which “passeth human understanding” to describe.

It is only night, which awakens this feeling in Budapest. There are, it is true, day sights. Select a bright day in summer or autumn, and take your place on one of the Corso chairs. Elegant Budapest will appear, clad in the costliest of raiment. Hungarian ladies do know how to dress well. It’s a motley crowd. Official life tired of its evasions escapes for a respite.

Even without the vote, the lady is a great political factor here. More things are done by these charming women than this world dreams of. Noise! The whole place hums, for the Magyar is fond of talk, given to excitement, and sometimes forgets that others may desire to speak. Occasionally conversation develops, both within and out of doors, a noisiness undreamt of. Yet if very tautological, he is rarely dull.

The Corso is obviously the place to study costume and life. Whilst this immense crowd is patrolling to and fro here, and one has imagined the entire city present, another larger and more imposing promenade is attempting to exhaust itself on the Stefania út, the Rotten Row of Budapest. It will bear comparison with Hyde Park. Here perhaps are fewer Jews. And in Budapest caste counts for much. Here “Riches shakes her money bags, And poverty its tatters.”

It is a gay, moving, chattering crowd. The latest in fashion, manners, and habits may be found on the Stefánia út. To get there one must needs pass through that area, which in some cities would soon degenerate into slumland.

Take the Andrássy út, the boulevard of boulevards in Budapest. Take it by carriage, or by underground. But do not miss it. It is a magnificent avenue, and it leads to the
Park and all its attendant educational factors and amusements. Never drive in a one-horse carriage, unless you desire to lower the reputation of your nation. To remember this will avoid a multitude of misrepresentations. And, driving or walking, always recognise the lady first.

In shopping in the Andrássy út and most other streets, remember that business is in the hands of Jews in Hungary. Never accept the first figures mentioned by the shopkeeper, save where the legend “fixed price” confronts you on all sides. Don’t worry when the director of the hotel, or the manager of the Kávéház, greets you when you arrive: this is a custom they never forget. They are glad to see you. The occupant of every table is treated in the same way. If you visit a service, you may find the women sitting all together on one side and the men on the other, let this not perturb you.

The Telephone Newsreader

You may be seated as I was in the reading-room of one of the hotels, or in a large coffee-house, when suddenly a rush is made for a telephone-looking instrument, which hangs from the wall. In time perhaps you will become one of these “rushers.” It is the Telephone Newsreader (Telefon Hírmondó), a kind of newspaper which telephones its news instead of printing it.

Budapest is the only city in the world, which possesses such an instrument. All day long a clear-toned elocutionist announces news just as it arrives. It commences in the morning at nine by sending the correct time, which is repeated every hour. At twelve o’clock the news of the day, home and abroad, is sent out to thousands of homes, etc. Sometimes a raconteur will make the luncheon hour pass easily by telling a few good stories. The latest rise and fall “on Change,” programme of events, meetings, Parliament, horse races, these are a few of the items one may receive. From 4.30 to 6.30 one may listen to a famous Honved military band, and after seven in the evening, for five nights of the week, the subscriber sitting at home may listen to grand opera. On the two remaining evenings the strains of a gipsy band coming from a distant café adds to the enjoyment. The Magyar loves pleasure.

(More about the Telephone Newsreader and its inventor, Tivadar Puskás)

Church Buildings of Budapest

The oldest church in Pest is the parish church in Eskü tér or “Swearing-in Place,” thus named for the position occupied by King Francis Joseph when he took the oath in 1867 as King. It is a strange bundle of incongruities, a Gothic chancel, and a Roman nave, with a curious rococo facade, and disfiguring doors. In both the Franciscan Church in the Ferenciek tere and the Ferencváros Church in Bakács tér good frescoes by Lotz are to be seen.

The Basilica by reason of its size commands notice, but it is painfully modern. Away on the Buda bank are three churches of real interest. Sigismund’s Chapel, in the Royal Palace, has been restored recently, and it is supposed to contain the coronation insignia. Béla IV. laid the corner-stone of the garrison church, which bears on its facade a tablet commemorating the 200th anniversary of the reconquest of Buda from the Turks.

But the premier church is the Matthias Church. It was commenced in the Romanesque style by Béla IV., and completed two centuries later in Gothic. During the Turkish occupation it was used as a mosque. The interior strikes one as unduly gaudy, colour rushes to attack colour, and design retreats before design. But the King was crowned here in 1867, so no great exception seemed to have been taken to these eccentricities. Most people are interested by the elaborate coat of arms of Matthias Corvinus, which occupies a prominent place to the right of the main entrance.

Buda

Buda is old, slow, yet beautiful. It wears something of the grandeur of age. Yet annoying marks of newness appear to disturb its past. Whilst wandering amongst the official life of Buda, or watching the crowds teem over from Pest to its wonderful baths, a moment will surely be found, as I found many, when the inquisitiveness of the explorer manifests itself. Utilise one of such moments, just as you may have emerged cleanly and strong from either the Lukács or the Császár baths, by strolling along hillwards for about ten minutes, until you approach a small octagonal building known to some as the Turkish Chapel. It stands but 25 feet high, and is erected over the grave of “the father of roses,” Gül-Baba. Rumour hath it that the obligation to preserve this monument forms a special article in the Peace of Karlowitz, concluded in 1699 between the Emperor and the Porte. This little spot brings one closer to things as they were.

Ruins

Lovers of ruins must certainly visit Aquincum, taking the little road-railway for the purpose. I spent a happy day there with Dr. Chester, the American Consul-General. An amphitheatre, a temple of Mithras, a famous bath, a shady garden, and delightful hostelry. Man needs nothing else with Dr. Chester for a companion.

Push still higher heavenwards, and dine on the Svábhegy, and watch Pest light its lamps at eventide. The effect is great.

Royal palaces seem all more or less alike. Two rooms of the eight hundred and thirty, which the Buda Palace possesses are worth climbing the hill to see. One is the ballroom, unequalled, I am sure, in the world; the other is the dining-room.

Speaking of palaces and kings, I have often been asked why the cross, which occupies the premier position on the Hungarian crown is crooked. In the Revolution of 1848 this crown fell into the hands of the Hungarians, and, as crown jewels are sometimes wont to do, disappeared mysteriously.

A slanderous scoundrel said that Kossuth had broken up the crown and sold its jewels in Turkey. Despite a searching inquiry, nothing was heard of it for five years. Then, so runs the story, a peasant appeared and led the searchers to a huge tree near Orsova, in the roots of, which the crown had been buried. On bringing it again into the daylight, it was discovered that the cross was out of its original position, but it was decided to allow it to remain as it was. Another version of the story later.

Buda is the home of the Prime Ministry, quite an unpretentious building, the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Finance, together with the Honved Ministry. To reach these it is quicker to take the mountain cog-wheel railway. Descending after a visit, one may easily see by a turn in the by-streets that the Turks have only left Buda a short time ago. It is these streets, which reek of history.

Near the Elizabeth Bridge - the new single-span bridge - is the Rudas fürdő one of the best baths in Budapest. All the Buda baths are renowned, and cheap.

Buildings

Little more remains to be written of buildings. The Vigadó, or Concert Room, on the Corso, contains a staircase adorned with frescoes from Hungarian legends by Thán and Lotz. Either the musician or the music invariably so engrosses people that many who have mounted the stairs a score of times have not yet noticed these artistic masterpieces. Modernity makes a big show in the Szabadság tér, or Liberty Place.

The New Bourse and the Austro-Hungarian Bank, together with the Adria Navigation Company’s building, form a trio of imposing structures and beautiful. Thoughts are thus taken from the spot where Haynau wreaked out his terrible vengeance on the heroes of ‘48.

Opposite Parliament are the Law Courts, or Palace of Justice, and the Ministry of Agriculture. One - the former - is cold and noble, like law itself; the other a field of windows, and a multitude of rooms, where some of the most advantageous legislative work of the country is conceived.

Education

The Ministry of Education is unworthy of the work that has been accomplished, and were it not for a sign over the door, the outward and visible signs of authority or rank are altogether wanting. Hungary is not far behind in most branches of educational work. Generally it has been gifted with capable and energetic ministers.

State education is more than a hundred years old. And in 1868 elementary education was made compulsory. Today there are in Hungary 106 industrial and commercial schools, and the State owns about 2046 of the primary schools. Quite one half of the training colleges and more than a half of the middle schools are owned by the State. The Magyar is an educationalist. As far back as 1836 infant schools were established, whilst provision for the education of girls was made in 1806. The year 1848 was a year of change in many respects. Then colleges were made into middle schools, with eight grades of instruction; and under a system of examination, or “trial of leave,” a pupil could pass to a school of higher grade, and eventually to the University.

Twenty years later education became compulsory, and in 1875 the higher education of women made rapid strides. The entire principle of State-control, de- nominational and otherwise, was confirmed in 1883. In 1905 it was stated that nearly 90 per cent, of the fixed population of Hungary - not merely the Magyars, but those races of Eastern Hungary - were able to read and write. This again proves my case for Magyar capacity. Greek was abolished in 1890 as a compulsory subject. Educational statistics I want to avoid, for the simple reason that they are, like all other statistical tables, unreliable, and also un- illuminating. It is to outline the tendency of education as it appears to the wayfaring man in a foreign country. In larger Hungary - that is, including Croatia - there are three Universities: one at Budapest, one at Kolozsvar, and another at Zágráb. The first two have, in addition to the faculties of theology, law, and philosophy, a faculty of medicine.

Law schools, polytechnics, and theological seminaries abound in the land, so that every year shows a great decrease in the number of illiterates. One does feel, however, that there is an absence of that thoroughness that we, despite the contention of carping critics, possess in England. In Hungary there is a certain brilliance about the work achieved, which is more often than not temperamental. It is the educational staying power that I doubt, the depth and width rather than the height. The power of rapid absorption is simply tremendous amongst Hungarian students, and one is apt to be led away by a certain linguistic capacity.

In all this one must remember that in the composition of the Magyar perseverance is not unduly developed, and there is a tendency to settle down, to be content with partial knowledge, much too soon. This is not true of all nations. A man receives his doctor’s degree and imagines the end of life in an intellectual or educational sense has been achieved. I can recall hundreds of instances of this kind of thing. And it reveals itself in a general disposition to neglect books for news- papers. With the growth of intellectual societies much of this will happily disappear.

Social Conditions

Social conditions in Budapest are not as good as they seem to be. But, thanks to an army of public-spirited and noble women, they are much better than may be found in most cities of the size. In a quiet way the Countess Albert Apponyi is doing most praiseworthy work in many branches of social service. But the efforts of Madame de Herich and Miss Rosenberg in connection with the woman’s movement in Hungary call for national recognition. Today there are ninety-three branches of the Women’s National Council in Hungary, with seven sections affecting the life of women. Women factory inspectors, however, are lacking. It is not uninteresting to note that amongst the best paid female labour is that of the tobacco factories, and after ten years’ regular service a pension is possible.

In Budapest there is no separate or distinct poor quarter. There is no system of State poor relief. Ecclesiastical charity and private benevolence do much, and when this is inadequate the community steps in to aid. Though the Magyars love drinking, they are not a drunken race. The poorer classes, alas! consume too much that is bad, and consequently pay the penalty.

But the women of Hungary set the women of England a noble example of temperance. It is not to be wondered at, with wine so good, cheap, and harmless, that only twenty-three teetotal doctors may be found in Hungary. Unless something is done soon in relation to overcrowding under the tenement system, slums will soon appear. People herd together too much. A new organisation is afloat to discover the genuine poor, and the causes; each person advised from a centre has a street to visit. Never have I seen a servant problem so accentuated as in Budapest. The habits of the girls and the treatment by the mistress are often too appalling for description. Crime of a grave nature has never alarmed either the visitor or the resident. In Budapest only trivial offences predominate. The most disreputable looking street is safe at any time, day or night. What is on the increase is political offences, thanks to Socialist organisation.

Police

The Magyar is a law-abiding animal, and much more docile than the Englishman. I have seen a man so bullied by policemen that in two minutes the officers would have been rolling in the gutter in England, and deservedly so. It is to be hoped that the practice of lacing a man’s hands up behind him with a cord will soon be considered antediluvian, to say the least. My own opinion is that the Hungarian police are over-armed. Too many obtrusive weapons are not only a temptation but a menace. Yet many of these men are capital fellows. As a result of a political disturbance, I was once obliged to spend an hour or so in the police station, but I only saw the worst side of them then. They are curious-looking individuals, with an unfashionable black bowler hat adorned with a wisp of white hair. Round their necks hang their official number, like a wine waiter at a club. They are on the whole a smart body of men, with few opportunities for running, such as our London police occasionally get. I tried and have failed to collect a policeman’s hat. In Budapest they don’t roll off as frequently as they do at Oxford and Cambridge.

Servants and Peasant Women

One of the sights of Budapest, and in fact all Hungary, is the servants and peasant women. Reducing the quantity of clothing to a minimum is the aim of many, but this section believes in the safety of numbers. I have seen many a village maiden swishing along with no less than eleven petticoats on, bulging out and forming a bell-shaped figure. Then with her bright scarlet stockings and coloured shoes, ribbon-woven hair, decorative apron, and full-bodied blouse, attracting the attention of the stranger only.

You may tell the district from, which she hails by this display of finery. Often such girls are found carrying babes on pretty little cushions, or pushing a modern-looking vehicle containing such. The arrangement of a handkerchief over the heads of these peasant servants often adds another deft touch of prettiness. More often than not on Sundays in Budapest, a group of such may be found near the Custom-house, or in summer in the Park. Shoeless often, yet nevertheless a picture. Sights of this order bring one immediately back from modern civilisation - and quite happily too, sometimes.

Sports

Hungarian sport naturally has its headquarters in Budapest. A great change is overtaking the nation, and sport is creating it. At one time the Kávéház and its attendant amusements occupied a larger share of the time of “young Hungary” than it does today.

Fortunately for the physique of the nation, those days are over, and a cleaner, stronger race of men is being bred. Almost all the forms of sport with, which the English University man is familiar have a home in Hungary. The degree of perfection arrived at, however, save in swimming, does not bear comparison. Cricket and golf still wait to be introduced. But football and tennis in the realm of athletics now approach an excellent standard, thanks to Mr. Charles Iszer, whose contribution to Hungarian sport is un- equalled, and an Englishman named Dr. A. B. Yolland. Tennis owes its existence to Dr. Yolland, who not merely taught the Hungarians the game, but demonstrated his skill by winning many valuable prizes. He is now Professor of English at the University, and one of the few men who speaks this difficult language with ease.

Football has come on quicker than any other game, and the Hungarians are now able to put up quite a good show against the English teams who visit them. An increase of the sporting instinct has meant an increased vocabulary, and the Magyar dictionary has grown by so much. In Budapest there are five good football teams, with a multitude coming on. Rowing also is improving. Manno gained considerable experience at Henley, and as a sculler he demonstrated Hungary’s possibility in this direction. Halmay by his record swimming has, however, done more than any other man to bring before the notice of the world Hungarian sport.

As a patron, an enthusiastic attendant, and an ardent athlete even now, Count Géza Andrássy stands quite by himself. What would Hungarian sport have done without his patronage I dare not stop to think. His branch is polo, and the Hungarian team is not to be despised. When the men grow a trifle harder, and both physically and temperamentally grow accustomed to hard knocks and rougher treatment, a sterling “footer” team will be evolved. Horse-racing with all classes is also now intensely popular. For sport, both the Torna Club ground and the ground on the Margaret Island are well equipped.

Margaret Island

What most people do first on visiting Budapest, I did almost last - that is, visited Margaret Island (Margitsziget). There it stands, serene and green, in the middle of the Danube, and approached by a massive Y-shaped bridge. For all bridges please not to forget that a toll of four filler must be paid, and forty filler for a carriage. But this bridge demands double payment, for on reaching the half-way line and desiring to enter the island, another toll is demanded. It is worth all you pay, for here you may really on a summer’s day find a restful retreat. The Archduke Joseph owns it, and spent several million crowns on having it artistically set out. Here the roses are simply gorgeous, and a hedge of rosebushes on the island perfumes the whole area. People go to the island not merely for a walk, but to try the wonderful medicinal baths. Others try the restaurants. I tried both, and found them good.

“Not seldom from the uproar I retired Into a silent bay, or sportively glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng.”

On doing this once, I stumbled across, quite by accident, the ruins of St. Margaret’s Convent. Margaret was the daughter of King Béla IV. If you would find this charmingly quiet retreat, you must take the road along the Pest side of the island. You will most likely pass on your way many an amorous couple.

Solitude

This will but add distinction to the quest for solitude. In Hungary the military man has a great chance with the ladies. Uniforms are captivating as well as men. The blue and gold of the Hungarian Hussars is one of the most effective in military Europe. I don’t like the caps. Here again it is Eastern traits that stumble out, for these caps are reminiscent of the fez with an inept peak attached to it. In all public places the clicking of heels together is continually heard. It is to be hoped that many of these men are more effective than they look.

The Church

Another figure one constantly meets is the priest. Hungary is a Catholic country, though Protestantism does something more than merely exist. The priest is always a variable quantity, it is the creed that never changes. In 1901 there were in Hungary proper 8,198,497 Roman Catholics, nearly two million Greek Catholics, and more than two million Greek Orientals. Of the two Confessions - Augsburg and Helvetian - of Evangelicals there were 3,686,092, with 831,162 Jews, and 68,551 Unitarians. The hierarchical organisation of the Roman Catholics is formed by five archbishops, those of Esztergom with ten suffragan bishops; Kalocsa, and three bishops; Eger, and four bishops; Zagrab, and three bishops; and the Greek archbishopric of Gyulafehérvár and other three bishops, truly an imposing array of men in fine linen. There are five Lutheran districts. In Budapest the Lutheran Church has 42,000 members, with five pastors, five chaplains, and seven catechists.

There is a story connected with the Scottish Mission in Budapest worth recalling. It is virtually the story of the origin of the mission. Dr. Alexander Keith and Professor Black left Scotland in 1839 to visit Palestine, having for companions Dr. McCheyne and Andrew Bonar. Being obliged to return by way of the Danube, they unexpectedly stopped at Budapest. Here Dr. Keith was taken seriously ill. Somehow or other the news of the Englishman’s illness reached the ears of the Archduchess, who immediately visited the sick minister, and on one of these occasions spoke of how she had long prayed for some such mission, and the presence of these missionaries in her city was the answer to her prayer.

The organisation of the Unitarian Churches is in church parishes, eight church districts, and in the officials and assemblies, which pertain to the united Church. In the Romanian National Church Congress, which is a ruling body, there are thirty spiritual and sixty secular representatives; whilst the Congress of the Servian National Church consists not only of an archbishop and bishop, but of twenty-five spiritual and fifty secular elective members. This arrangement is for those Greek Orientals who belong either to the Romanian or Servian race. There is one limitation to the scope of the Congress; it does not extend to dogmas, religious instruction, liturgy, and ecclesiastical discipline. But all church and school endowment, questions of organisation, and endowment of vicars, etc., come within the meaning of the Act.

A united organisation does not belong to the Jews. Individual communities form the sole organised corporations of this race. The administration of local bodies- I purposely omit, for its repeated changes provide nothing of special interest by way of comment or contrast. Such does not reveal the Magyars as I want them to be seen. Language and literature does this, so just glance at it a moment.

From: W. B. Forster Bovill, Hungary and the Hungarians, 1908

Hungary, Hungarians, Budapest, church, police, military, Margaret Island, sports, servants, peasant women, social conditions, poor, education, buildings, ruins, Buda, telephone newsreader, 1908