Supervisory Centre and Money Museum
The enthusiastic architectural review already emphasised that one of the greatest virtues of the building, designed in accordance with the drawings of Gyula Sándy, is that it is both traditional and extremely modern. Thus, from its birth, the two-faced Postal Palace carried in its walls the philosophy that the Money Museum, which will move into the renovated building in 2022, professes.
The special, conspicuous tower of the building evokes the bastion of a medieval castle, Renaissance motifs appear on the façade, while the render decoration is in the style of Hungarian Art Nouveau; the list of architectural values could be continued for a long time. Despite all this, history did not deal gently with the Postal Palace: at the outbreak of World War II, a shelter was set up in it, later it was hit by numerous cannon hits, and then the invading soldiers completely destroyed and burnt down the wing that housed the call centre. Although critical damage was repaired after the war, the palace was again severely damaged during the 1956 revolution.
60 years later, in 2016, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank purchased the building, and a comprehensive renovation was started in the following year, the main purpose of which was to restore the building to its original condition. During its renewal, the primary aspect was the preservation of values and the preservation of the architectural heritage of Gyula Sándy. During the reconstruction of the monument, the developer, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank acted with great care. In addition to the exterior renovation, great emphasis was placed on the interior refurbishment, including the restoration of the specially designed railings of the stairways, the oak gates decorated with wrought-iron handles, and the preservation of the paternoster in the building.
The building, which has been a listed building since 2009, has been rejuvenated inside and out through the renovation, and its interiors have been fitted out with the state of the art technologies of the 21st century, so today it is perhaps even more true than at the time of its construction that the building is a real, two-faced, fairy-tale castle.
The name of the building, reflecting the professional activity in the office building, is MNB Supervisory Centre and Money Museum. At the end of 2021, the MNB’s Deputy Governance for Financial Institutions Supervision and Consumer Protection moved into the building from the former leased office building and began working there.
The MNB Supervisory Centre and Money Museum combines the requirements of today’s modern office buildings with the original art deco, Art Nouveau, historical, industrial building, which could thus remain the jewel of Buda’s busiest junction.