- Memento Park
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Memento Park 
Main entrance of with Lenin, Marx and EngelsType Urban park Location Budapest, Hungary Created 1993 Memento Park is an open air museum in Budapest, dedicated to monumental statues from Hungary's Communist period (1949–1989). There are statues of Lenin, Marx, and Engels, as well as Hungarian Communist leaders such as Béla Kun, Endre Ságvári, or Árpád Szakasits. The park was designed by Hungarian architect, Ákos Eleőd, who won the competition announced by the Budapest General Assembly (Fővárosi Közgyűlés) in 1991.
Contents
History
After the fall of the Communist regime in Hungary in 1989, many of the Communist statues and monuments were immediately removed. These formed the basis for the current collection in statue park. On June 29, 1993, the second anniversary of the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Hungarian territory, the park celebrated a ribbon cutting and grand opening as a public an outdoor museum.
In 2006 marks a new chapter in the history of Memento Park. A life-sized copy of the tribune of the Stalin Monument in Budapest was built in the Statue Park with the broken bronze shoes on top of the pedestal. This is not an accurate copy of the original but only an artistic recreation by Ákos Eleőd.
In 2007 a new exhibition hall and a small movie theater was opened in Memento Park. The photo exhibition called “Stalin’s Boots” in the exhibition hall takes you through the history of the 1956 revolution, of the 1989-1990 political changes and of Memento Park – with both English and Hungarian captions. In the barrack-theatre you can see The life of an agent, a documentary on the methods used by the secret police, directed by Gábor Zsigmond Papp. The film is being shown with English subtitles.
Sculptures, monuments and plaques
The Wall behind the Scenes
Sculpture name
(Original name)Author Year Construction material Original location Lenin
(Lenin)Pátzay Pál 1965 bronze Felvonulási tér (parallel to street Dozsa Gyorgy and beside the Városliget city park) Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
(Marx és Engels)Segesdi György 1971 granit from Mauthausen V. ker. Jászai Mari tér (at the main entrance of the communist party head quarters) The Endless Parade of Liberation Monuments
Sculpture name
(Original name)Author Year Construction material Original location Red army soldier statue
(Felszabadító szovjet katona)Kisfaludi Strobl Zsigmond 1947 bronze Part of the Liberation Monument (Szabadság szobor) at the top of the Gellért Hill Hungarian-Soviet Friendship Memorial
(A magyar-szovjet barátság emlékműve)Kisfaludi Strobl Zsigmond 1956 bronze X. Pataki (ma: Szent László) tér Liberation Monument
(Felszabadulási emlékmű)Kiss István 1971 limestone XIV. Thököly street, 141. Liberation Memorial Stone
(Felszabadulási emlékkő)Unknown 1960 stone I. Dísz tér Soviet Heroic Memorial
(Szovjet hősi emlékmű)László Péter 1951 limestone XII: Széchenyi hegy, Rege park Soviet-Hungarian Friendship
(Szovjet-magyar barátság emlékműve)Búza Barna 1975 pyrogranit X. Kőbánya-Óhegy, Barátság park Soviet Heroic Memorial
(Szovjet hősi emlékmű)Mikus Sándor 1970 bronze XVI. Rákosszentmihály, Hősök tere Soviet Heroic Memorial
(Felszabadulási emlékmű)Kalló Viktor 1965 bronze, 2,6 meter XIII. Béke tér Soviet Heroic Memorial
(Felszabadulási emlékmű)Kalló Viktor 1965 limestone XIII. Béke tér Soviet Heroic Memorial
(Szovjet Hősi emlékmű)Megyeri Barna 1948 limestone XVII. Kasztel András street The Endless Parade of Personalities of the Workers Movement
Sculpture name
(Original name)Author Year Construction material Original location Lenin Relief
(Lenin-emléktábla)Szabó Iván 1970 bronze VII. Lenin (ma: Erzsébet) tér Georgi Dimitrov bust
(Dimitrov mellszobor)Jordan Kracsmarov 1954 bronze V. Dimitrov (ma: Fővám) tér Georgi Dimitrov statue
(Dimitrov szobor)Valentin Sztarcsev 1983 bronze V. Dimitrov (ma: Fővám) tér Béla Kun, Jenő Landler and Tibor Szamuely Memorial
(Munkásmozgalmi harcosok emlékműve)Olcsai-Kiss Zoltán, Herczeg Klára, Farkas Aladár 1967 bronze VIII. Kun Béla (ma: Ludovika) tér Lenin
(Lenin)Unknown soviet statue 1958 bronze XXI. Csepel, Vasmű főbejárat József Kalamár Bust
(Kalamár József mellszobor)Gyenes Tamás 1957 bronze XXI. Kalamár József (ma: Szent István) street János Asztalos Memorial Plaque
(Asztalos János emléktábla)Nagy István János 1968 stone VIII. Nagyvárad tér Róbert Kreutz Memorial Plaque
(Kreutz Róbert emléktábla)Kiss Nagy András 1977 bronze VIII. Asztalos János Ifjúsági Park (ma: Orczy Kert) Béla Kun Memorial Plaque
(Kun Béla emléktábla)Kalló Viktor 1989 bronze XXI. Tanácsház (ma: Szent Imre) tér Endre Ságvári Bust
(Ságvári Endre mellszobor)Baksa Soós György 1949 bronze V. Városház street 9-11. Árpád Szakasits bust
(Szakasits Árpád szobra)Marton László 1988 bronze XI. Szakasits Árpád (ma: Etele) street Béla Kun Memorial
(Kun Béla emlékmű)Varga Imre 1986 bronze,chromium,copper I. Vérmező-park Ferenc Münnich statue
(Münnich Ferenc szobra)Kiss István 1986 bronze V. Néphadsereg (ma: Honvéd) tér Ede Chlepkó Bust
(Chlepkó Ede mellszobor)Szabó György 1980 bronze XIX. Chlepkó Ede tér (ma: Ötvenhatosok tere) Kálmán Turner Memorial Plaque
(Turner Kálmán emléktábla)unknown 1959 marble IX. Soroksári street Kató Hámán Memorial Plaque
(Hámán Kató emléktábla)unknown 1959 marble IX: Mester street, 59. The Unending Promenade of Worker's Movement Concepts
Scuplture name
(Original name)Author Year Construction material Original location Workers' and Soldiers' Council Memorial Plaque
(A Munkás és Katonatanács emléktáblája)unknown 1959 marble I. Szentháromság street, 2. The Display of the Worker's Militia Monument
(Munkásőr-demonstráció emléktábla)Kiss Nagy András 1973 bronze VI. November 7. tér (ma: Oktogon) 2. Workers' Movement Memorial
(Munkásmozgalmi emlékmű)Kiss István 1976 steel II. Hűvösvölgy The Hungarian Fighters' in the Spanish International Brigades' Memorial
(A spanyolországi nemzetközi brigádok magyar harcosainak emlékműve)Makrisz Agamemnon 1968 bronze and stone V. Néphadsereg (ma: Honvéd) tér Republic of Councils Monument
(Tanácsköztársasági emlékmű)Kiss István 1969 bronze XIV. Dózsa György street (Felvonulási tér) The Republic of Councils Pioneers Memorial Plaque
(Béke őrei dombormű)Ambrózi Sándor and Stöckert Károly 1953 stone II. Pasaréti street, 191-193. Hungarian Communist Party Memorial Plaque
(KMP ferencvárosi szervezet emléktábla)unknown 1959 marble IX. Soroksári street Hungarian Communist Party Printing House Memorial Plaque
(KMP Nyomda emléktábla)unknown 1955 marble IX. Ráday u. 53. The Heroes of Peoples' Power Memorial
(A néphatalom hőseinek emlékhelye)Kalló Viktor 1983 stone VIII. Köztársaság tér Martyrs Monument
(Az ellenforradalom mártírjainak emlékműve)Kalló Viktor 1960 stone VIII. Köztársaság tér The Buda Volunteers Regiment Memorial
(A Budai Önkéntes Ezred emlékműve)Mészáros Mihály 1975 concrete II. Tárogató street Ostapenko
(Osztapenkó)Kerényi Jenő 1951 bronze XI: Budaörsi út - Balatoni út Captain Steinmetz
(Steinmetz kapitány)Mikus Sándor 1958 bronze XVIII. Vöröshadsereg (ma: Üllői) street Events
Memento Park, beyond its role as a tourist attraction, also functions as a cultural and educational site housing art projects, festivals, professional and public events. There are Retro Festivals, Film Festivals, and several cultural programs. To the youngest visitors, there is a museum-education program that sheds light on the exhibits and helps students to process what they learn. The park is a popular site for tourists. It is opened every day from 10 o’clock in the morning until sunset. It is accessible by public transportation as well as a direct bus.
Gallery
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The Republic of Councils Monument, based on a 1919 revolutionary poster
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The Hungarian Fighters in the Spanish International Brigades Memorial
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Hand-shake at Hungarian-Soviet Friendship Memorial
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Red Army soldier statue
See also
- Fallen Monument Park, the Russian equivalent.
- Grūtas Park, in Lithuania, known colloquially as "Stalin World"
- List of Sculpture Parks
References
External links
- Memento Park official website
- A Sentence on Tyranny - Photographic images of the re-presentation of Soviet-era statues at Szobor Park in Budapest, Hungary An Exhibition in Wellington, New Zealand (2006).
Coordinates: 47°25′34.80″N 18°59′56.15″E / 47.426333°N 18.9989306°E
Categories:- Art museums and galleries in Hungary
- Museums in Budapest
- People's Republic of Hungary
- Sculpture gardens, trails and parks
- Colossal statues
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