As if a punishment, the Budapest skyline changed dramatically after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The reason is that all the statues that were once scattered throughout the city to commemorate the era of triumphant communism suddenly disappeared and were taken to the outskirts of Budapest, to Memento Park to be precise. Since there wasn’t a plan for getting rid of them or wiping out the history of the Hungarians in this manner, these giant statues were relegated to occupy the place that the citizens of Budapest determined. Memento Park is located in an area where there is nothing beyond it.

In 1993, Lenin, Stalin, Marx, Engels and company were given a new home. That was the year the park opened. The statues, which reflect several episodes of the history of yesteryear’s communism, are of breathtakingly impressive size. Here, size does matter. It´s like riding in a time machine and going back several decades, like walking among dead giants. In some cases, the views give enough respect and make you want to put your head down instead of lifting it up to see all those statues up close. It is very striking, once there, to see where each statue was once located in the city of Budapest before being punished to spend eternity in Memento Park. It is now a museum.

There is a statue in particular whose story is priceless: It is a work in which Stalin’s gigantic boots appear first and above them only a life-size sculpture. This attention-grabbing statue is this way due to the revolt against communism in 1956, when the Hungarians were angry with the regime and decided to cut off Stalin’s feet and then did so at the knees. All that was left were the pedestal and boots. Later another sculpture, one that was different, smaller and therefore less monumental, was created on top of the original feet of the statue of Stalin. In 2006 it rose again but was a less offensive figure to the Hungarians.

The faces of the works you will find in Memento Park are fine, with very pronounced features and particularly tense muscles. The appearance reminds one of the Soviet propaganda posters that were deployed during the Cold War with the ideals of the good communist. And it´s funny because if you take a good look you will also find several sculptures that recall the Spanish Communists in the Civil War of 1936. The park was designed by a famous modern architect named Akos Eleöd.

Useful Information: The park opens at 10 am and closes when the sun goes down. Admission for adults is 1,500 forint (about 5 euros), but with the “Budapest Card” you can get a discount of 40%. And how do you get there? You can take the tram to Kelenföldi Pályaudvar (lines 19 and 49). From there, a good means of transportation is the bus. In the bus shelters 7 and 8 you’ll find the lines 710, 720, 721 and 722 with a final destination of Memento Park, and the ride is less than 10 minutes. Another way to get there is to take a direct bus, which costs 4,500 forint (about 15 euros) to the park from the stop of the metro lines 1, 2 and 3 at Deák tér. Going by car is ideal if you have one, since the area is pretty far removed from civilization. Visiting the park will probably take up an entire day or afternoon. But it’s worth it.

DianaRPretel

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1. Only-apartments Says:
   November 12th, 2012 at 7:25 pm

   Memento Park, a Voyage to Budapest’s Communist Past http://t.co/Nz9E66uN

Budapest, a city of a thousand resources and full of places to visit, gives us the opportunity to discover its secrets through a fascinating place: the Memento Park. After having visited the city centre, go the outskirts, where the charming Memento Park is located.

After the change of regime in the capital in 1989-1990, unlike many other cities that burned or destroyed all the communist symbols, Budapest preserved part of them. They gathered all the statues representing the great figures of communism like Marx, Lenin, Stalin or Bela Kun, along with the anonymous soldiers and liberators of the USSR and they created this park in their memory. This is one of the most beautiful and curious attractions of the city and a mandatory stop. It looks like a big building full of classical statues, where you can see the attempt of the architect Ákos Eleőd to highlight the nature of the dictatorship.

The different statues and symbols appear to shout out against the dictatorial regime in the name of freedom. Today this park is a place of commemoration and an interesting museum to visit. There are allegoric monuments that symbolize the “Hungarian – Soviet” friendship and the “Liberation” along with statues of the labour movement and the soldiers of the Red Army.

One of the most appreciated statues is the Soviet Liberator Soldier statue. This is a 6 metre tall statue with a fearsome look. It was initially placed at the top of the Gellért hill, so everybody could see it. This soldier has a flag in the hand with a hammer and sickle and a pistol. This park is a unique museum, and an important symbol of this charming city.

The park is located on the outskirts of the capital. There are many remains of ancient statues: for example, there are Stalin�s boots (the only part that remains of the statue), which after World War II dominated Heroes� Square in Budapest. This is a place for parades and state meetings.

This huge park full of exciting statues is a real honour to the condemnation of any regime. Rent your Apartments in Budapest and don’t miss the Memento Park… It will captivate you!