The cultural-historical background of the building

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The period between the Compromise of 1867 and the turn of the century brought rapid development to the Hungarian economy, industry, transportation, commerce, and banking. In 1873, Buda, Pest, and Óbuda merged, thus creating the new capital. Budapest emerged as one of Europe’s most rapidly advancing modern metropolises, as its burgeoning urban population escalated the architectural demands. Railway networks, roads, parks, and bridges were constructed. By 1887, trams were already running along the Grand Boulevard, and in 1896, the underground metro system was launched. With industrialization, new centers were established, featuring schools, hospitals, hotels, theaters, and restaurants. Thanks to the new technological advancements, electric lighting, public utilities, and sewer systems became widespread. This period also brought about tremendous changes in architecture. The use of reinforced concrete became popular, enabling new architectural solutions due to its affordability and straightforward implementation. The mass production of building materials, the creation of new materials, and advancements in transportation revolutionized architectural techniques and organization. With the flourishing of economic activity, the construction of financial institutions commenced. By the turn of the century, over two thousand financial institutions had been established, largely due to the credit demands of the rapidly emerging industrial enterprises. The advancement of travel and telecommunications had a positive impact on international relations, alongside the rise of professional organizations, leading to the emergence of the specialized architectural press. In Europe, architectural academies began to flourish. During the century, architectural styles such as eclecticism and historicism were the most popular, followed by the emergence of Art Nouveau at the turn of the century. The representatives of modern business life, including department stores, trading houses, insurance institutions, and banks, saw the completion of their impressive palaces. However, until the beginning of the century, the joint central bank had its headquarters in only one capital, Vienna. The time had come to construct their main institution in Budapest.

The history of the area and the New Building

At the end of the 19th century, a single robust building block occupied the site of today’s Liberty Square (Szabadság tér). The New Building (Neugebäude) was constructed during the reign of Joseph II, based on the designs of the Viennese architect Isidore Marcello Canevale. In 1786, under the leadership of János Hild, construction began on the fortress-like building with a vast inner courtyard, which stood here for over a hundred years, exerting its influence on the life of the city. Initially serving as a fortress, it later functioned as a prison for French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars. Later, following the defeat of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-49, it became the prison and execution site for Hungarian patriots. It was here that Count Lajos Batthyány, the first Prime Minister of independent Hungary, met his martyr’s death. In 1851, Lajos Kossuth, Mihály Táncsics, Dániel Irányi, and many of their companions, who were beyond the reach of reprisal, were symbolically hanged here. The building became an emblem of oppression, representing a powerful symbol of authority at the time, much like the Bastille in Paris. After the Compromise, there were plans to convert the New Building into a printing house, and later into an orphanage. However, in 1897, the Council of Public Projects of Capital Budapest decided to demolish it. The space left after the demolition of the massive building was not coincidentally named Liberty Square, and the surrounding streets were named after the martyrs and heroes of the War of Independence. The decision may have also been influenced by the fact that by the turn of the century, this area had become so densely developed that it was considered part of the city center, leading to an appreciation in the value of the land plots here. The area was divided into 28 plots and put up for sale, one of which was purchased by the Austro-Hungarian Bank, which did not yet have a headquarters in Budapest, for its new main institution. They found the still undeveloped Liberty Square to be an excellent location for construction, despite it already being considered part of the city center.

The competition

In the summer of 1900, the Vienna Main Council of the Austro-Hungarian Bank announced a closed competition. Adhering strictly to the rules of the Dual Monarchy, eight renowned Hungarian and Austrian architects were each invited. The jury consisted of two Austrian and two Hungarian architects. In the spring of 1901, the first prize of the design competition was awarded to the distinguished Hungarian representative of the late eclectic style, Ignác Alpár (1855-1928). In addition, based on his designs, construction had already begun on another significant building in Liberty Square at the time, the Stock Exchange Palace, located opposite the central bank. Thus, the designer shaped the entire character of what was then emerging as one of Budapest’s most beautiful and largest squares, a legacy that endures to this day. The first four winners of the competition received cash prizes. Unfortunately, the submissions for the competition later disappeared, with only those of Ignác Alpár surviving. We can infer the solutions of the other submissions from descriptions in the contemporary press. The Hungarian success surprised the Austrian professional opinion, who were confident in their own victory. Nevertheless, they gracefully accepted the defeat and acknowledged that Alpár deserved the first place. Some critics of the time attributed the first prize awarded for the design of the Central Bank building on Liberty Square to the strength of the propaganda. However, the jury was primarily motivated by the desire to construct two iconic buildings in a similar style on Liberty Square that would harmonize with their surroundings. At that time, there was a desire to surpass the significance of Vienna, the other capital of the empire, by emphasizing the greatness of Budapest. Thus, there was an effort to have Hungarian architects construct the iconic buildings of our nation, which would be more beautiful, larger, and more ornate than similar buildings on the Austrian side. The central bank also fell into this pattern. After more than 50 years of demanding an independent Hungarian central bank and 20 years after the concession of a joint central bank, the construction of its own building in the capital became a matter of prestige for the bank. It was imperative that the winner of the competition not be an Austrian architect. Based on Alpár’s designs, the construction of the headquarters was supervised by István Pucher, a master builder from Budapest. Construction began in the spring of 1902, and three years later, in 1905, it was completed. It cost four and a half million crowns, exceeding the planned three million.

The designer, Ignác Alpár (1855-1928)

The designer of many of our historicist public buildings was born in Budapest in 1855 under the name Ignác Schöckl, which he later Hungarianized. He came from a Styrian family, and his father ran a successful carpentry workshop in Pest. Having struggled in school, he was sent by his parents to become a mason apprentice after completing the fifth grade. He studied there until 1873, after which he became a pupil of Alajos Hauszmann. From 1874 onwards, he continued his studies in Berlin, recommended by Hauszmann, at the Academy of Architecture. After completing his studies, he worked in architectural offices in Berlin. He spent six years in the German capital, which had a profound influence on his architectural expression. At Hauszmann’s invitation, he returned to Budapest and from 1881 he became an assistant professor at the Technical University under Imre Steindl, then alongside Hauszmann. He taught at the Department of Ornamental Architecture for seven years before establishing his own practice. He led one of the largest offices of the era, where numerous award-winning designs were produced. His contemporaries and critics considered him a controversial figure, something of a ‘difficult person’, but his creations clearly demonstrated his talent. His architecture is characterized by a monumental variant of late historicism, combining elements of antiquity and ancient Eastern motifs. The Historical Building Group of the Millennium Exhibition, later rebuilt as Vajdahunyad Castle, can be considered the greatest success of his career. Between 1900 and 1914, his office designed the majority of the most important bank buildings, which still play a defining role in the Budapest cityscape (such as those on Liberty Square, Vörösmarty Square, Palatine Joseph Square and Széchenyi István Square), including the former television headquarters, the Stock Exchange Palace, the current Ministry of Finance (Hungarian General Credit Bank), and the current Ministry of the Interior (Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest). The prolific creator’s more than 120 buildings can be found throughout historical Hungary: county halls, high schools, churches, baths, apartment buildings, villas, castles, military buildings, post offices, theaters, and hotels. He passed away in Switzerland in 1928 while returning home from a trip to the United States.

The description of the building

When Ignác Alpár designed the building, the most important aspect for him regarding the exterior appearance was to convey reliability and strength in harmony with the institution’s function. Thus, he created a freely standing, frame-shaped building with a monumental palace façade, adorned with rich exterior and interior decorations. Its façades are characterized by symmetry and clarity, interrupted only by the chamfering of the corner of Hold Street and Bank Street. The building was originally designed as a three-story structure. However, in 1948, the first floor was divided (with the exterior appearance preserved, so an additional fourth level was added in a way that is not visible from the outside), and the courtyard was infilled with a two-story building added in the center. During the ongoing reconstruction, these alterations will be restored to their original state by 2024, the centennial anniversary of the institution’s founding. Originally, the top floor housed official residences, which were later converted into offices. The unity of the four courtyard façades was interrupted by recessed sections, each housing the former vault, cash handling rooms, the main staircase, and the old carriage sheds. The main load-bearing structures of the building are the wide and solid brick walls, along with the riveted steel-framed columns covered with artificial marble cladding. According to the technology of the time, the ceiling structures consist of steel beam-supported terracotta vaults (Prussian vaults), some of which span over 7 meters, covered with plastered false vaults on their lower plane. The first floor had the highest ceiling height, measuring over 6.75 meters, before it was divided. Additionally, the other floors also had a height exceeding 4 meters. The main supports of the roof structure are riveted steel lattice girders, some of which span 20-23 meters without intermediate supports between the façade main walls. The building was declared a protected monument in 1976.

The exterior decoration of the building

Ignác Alpár designed the bank headquarters to exude strength and tranquility, incorporating elements of late historicism, eclecticism, and Art Nouveau. The two main façades are asymmetrical because the façade facing Liberty Square is more ornate than the one facing Bank Street, to harmonize with the Stock Exchange Palace located on the opposite side of the square. It was the architect’s innovation to incorporate windows into the frieze spanning two floors as decorative elements, and additionally, the relief sculptures adorn the first-floor pillars of the projections. The side facing Kiss Ernő Street was covered with precast façade plaster elements, which was a significant innovation at that time. The relief sculptures running along the first-floor facade were created by sculptor Károly Senyei, depicting scenes from the relationship between banking, commerce, and money: ore smelting and casting of ingots of precious metals, coin minting, paper currency engraving and printing, drawing and marking of paper currency, arts, sciences, metalsmithing, animal husbandry, agriculture and industry, maritime shipping and commerce, medieval banking, and mining of metal ores. The keystone sculptures depicting human faces above the windows on the first floor were created by the Austrian-born sculptor Ede Mayer, symbolizing various nations and alluding to the international nature of banking transactions. The two female figures above the main gate balcony, representing the allegories of Earth and Water, are the work of sculptor István Tóth. The female figure holding a cornucopia at the corner of Bank Street and Hold Street was created by sculptor József Róna. The two male figures standing on the parapet of Liberty Square, representing the allegories of Industry and Agriculture, are the work of sculptor Béla Markup. The façades are adorned with pilasters, garlands of flowers, acanthus and swirling leaves, crests, and putti. The uppermost level is situated on cornices. The building owes its warm brown color to the hard limestone mined from Transylvania, which was treated with magnesium fluoride to achieve greater frost resistance.

The interior decoration of the building

Entering through the main gate at 8 Liberty Square, visitors step into a richly decorated vestibule, where a marble plaque commemorating Ignác Alpár is currently visible. Opposite the entrance, an elegant three-armed staircase leads upward, imparting a unique interior space with its side corridors and repeated antechambers on each floor. The stunning Art Nouveau stained glass windows of the main staircase are the work of Miksa Róth, a glass painter and mosaic artist. The interior architectural sculptures are the creations of Géza Maróti, an architect and sculptor. The distinctive motif of wheat ears running along the railing of the main staircase symbolizes abundance in the Hungarian economy. The female head adorned with wheat ears and a golden halo is visible in many places, found on the stained glass windows and arcades as well. Despite the historicist exterior of the building, the interior decoration is primarily Art Nouveau, featuring numerous plants, wavy lines, and unique doors, whose motifs are drawn from nature. The intricate carved frames and doors were crafted by master carpenter Alajos Michl. During the design of the presidential and executive suites, efforts were made to follow English club traditions. The wooden panels and leather interiors resulted in cozy but darker rooms. The uniqueness of the interior decoration of the building lies in the presence of a dominant botanical motif on each floor. The ground floor features wheat, the first floor is adorned with iris and thistle, while the third floor is embellished with chestnut motifs. These motifs can be found on the staircase balusters, carved doors, stucco decorations, door lintels, capitals of the pilasters, and on the lamp fixtures as well. In the ground floor and upper floor vestibules, corridors, Art Nouveau-style mosaic tile coverings with plant and flower motifs are spread out, which were made in the mosaic and cement factory of József Walla in Törökbálint. It’s interesting to note that the wrought iron railings of the side staircases were made by Ignác Alpár’s brother, Ede Alpár. The railings are adorned with winding grapevines, stylized tulips, and irises. The wheat motif lamps were created by Rudolf Kiszling, who also made the chandeliers.