Lajos Kossuth Square

Lajos Kossuth Square (Hungarian: "Kossuth Lajos tér" or "Kossuth tér") is situated in the Lipótváros neighbourhood of Budapest, District V, on the bank of the Danube. Its most notable landmark is the Hungarian Parliament Building (Hungarian: "Országház"). There is a station of the M2 (East-West) line of the Budapest Metro on the square.

Name and History

The square was renamed after Lajos Kossuth in 1927. Previously, it was called Országház tér ("Parliament Square") between 1898 and 1927, and Tömő tér or Stadt Schopper Platz in German ("Landfill Square") between 1853 and 1898. This name recalls how the low-lying territory next to the river, then outside the town of Pest, was filled with rubbish to raise the level of the ground. The first recorded name was Stadtischer Auswind Platz ("Unloading Square for the Ships") in 1820.

In the second half of the 19th century, great public buildings were erected on the square and it became the symbolic centre of the Hungarian state. The most important among them is the Hungarian Parliament Building on the western side.

Facing the Parliament, the Museum of Ethnography (originally the Palace of Justice) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development can be found.

After World War II, a temporary bridge across the Danube, Kossuth híd, was built between Lajos Kossuth Square and Batthyány Square, and functioned from 1946 until 1960. It was dismantled when most of the permanent were re-built. It is marked with memorial stones on the Pest and the Buda sides. In its place, a pontoon bridge was built in 1973 and in 2003, for a few days around national holidays.

From 17 September 2006 Kossuth Square was the scene of the great anti-government demonstrations against Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány triggered by the release of Gyurcsány's speech in which he confessed that he had lied to win the 2006 elections. Until 23 October the square was continuously occupied by the demonstrators.

After the 23 October riots the police closed off the square with cordons. The long closure of square caused controversy. The cordons were removed only on 19 March 2007. The damaged park was subsequently restored and the square was given back to the public.

Memorials

In front of the Parliament building are the Kossuth Memorial and an equestrian statue of Francis II Rákóczi, as well as a memorial for the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. A modern statue of Attila József is nearby, south of the Parliament, sitting on the bank of the river (actually he is sitting on a grassy mound quite far from the water) as described in his poem "By the Danube".

Neighbourhood

The neighbourhood surrounding Lajos Kossuth Square is generally quiet; it is mostly ministries, court-houses and offices beside residential buildings.