The Parliament in the EP
Under the title Országház the House of the Nation a photo exhibition on the building of the Hungarian National assembly is presented on 16-27 May 2011 in the exhibition space in front of Members’ Restaurant in the ASP ground floor in Brussels.
The most interesting halls, spaces and details of the extraordinary building are presented trough 23 pictures. The captions talk about numerous architectural and historical curiosities to those interested by the Parliament
The inner city section of both sides of the Danube at Budapest was added to the World Heritage List in 1987. Although the list includes other Hungarian sites such as the Buda Castle, Gellért Hill, Gellért Bath, the Hungarian Academy of Science and the Gresham Palace, the Hungarian Parliament building is clearly the most spectacular among them.
Beginning in 1848, the National Assembly has held its sessions in Pest, but at first, the upper and the lower houses were in different buildings. In 1880, an act providing for the construction of “the House of the Nation” for both houses was passed. The style of the exterior of the building was designed by architect Imre Steindl and draws upon the Gothic Revival, a style that developed in England in the 1830s and which inspired, among others, the Parliament building in London. The overall style of the building, however, can be described as historical eclecticism.
Last year marked the 125th anniversary of the starting date of the building project, which was on 12 October 1885 (the topping-out ceremony was held on 5 May 1894). In 1896, commemorating the millennial history of the Hungarian state, the dome hall housed a ceremonial joint session of the two houses of the Parliament. Even though the regular sessions of the two houses were held there as of 1902, it was not until 1904 that works were fully completed.
The building is 268m long, 123m wide across the centre, has a 96m high dome and stands on approximately 20,000 square meters of surface on a concrete foundation 2 to 5m thick of a total of 61,000 cubic meters. The total length of the staircases is approximately 20,000m. A total of 4,500m of stone was cut and approximately 5,000 balusters or small column caps have been made. It took 40 million bricks to build the walls and a total of 2,836.8 tons of iron was used in the process. Nearly 40 kg of 22-carat and 23-carat gold was used for ornamentation.
The structure stretches along the bank of the Danube, divided by a number of arcaded loggias with the staircases leading to the lower dock to create a direct connection with the river. On the two ends of the symmetrical building, the roofs of the two houses of the legislature reach up towards the sky. The centre of the building is covered by a 96m-high dome flanked by two towers, each 72.6m tall. These are topped by brass warriors 4.7m tall. The riverside façade is decorated with statues of the seven chieftains who founded the Hungarian state and various rulers from later centuries, thus immortalising and commemorating the history of the nation.
The main entrance of the Parliament building opens on to Kossuth Square. The characteristic three-piece doorway is edged with lacelike wrought iron gates, while the staircase leading to the doorway is guarded by two imposing bronze lions. The façade of the building looking down on Kossuth Square is ornamented with the statues of the Princes of Transylvania, military leaders and warriors and a long line of coats of arms representing Hungarian counties and cities. A symbol of Hungarian statehood, the Parliament building has provided a majestic background to key events and ceremonies on the square for over a century.
The interior of the Parliament building is resplendent with its rich decorations, glittering marble and gilded surfaces, the colourful play of light streaming in through the stained glass windows, the brilliance of its colourful statutes, ornamental carpets, upholstery and frescoes, Hungarian motifs of forest and field flowers, wrought iron rails and grills, gold-plated cast-iron columns and candelabrums, door frames decorated with plant ornaments, patterns in oriental, geometric and secessionist styles, as well as gilded flower and leaf motifs.
When designing the interior space, Imre Steindl wanted to achieve a harmony of various styles, and it was through the work of famous craftsmen of the day that he made his dream a reality. Vilmos Zsolnay, an industrialist from the Hungarian city of Pécs, played an important part in decorating the interior as well as the exterior of the building: he coordinated the work on the 88 statues made of his patented frost-resistant ceramic called pyrogranite, which was used for the decorations of courtyard walls and the edges of mouldings. His factory also developed the iridescent eosin glaze used on porcelain; examples of this are found on the decorations of the mahogany furniture in the Prime Minister’s study
The size, architectural layout and decoration of the upper house are similar to that of the lower house but in certain details (e.g. the columns and the frontispieces of the gallery boxes), they are even more imposing. This room used to be where sessions of the House of Lords – and later the Upper House – were held, but now hosts conferences and meetings. It is also the venue of the events organized by the Hungarian National Assembly related to the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The large rooms of the Parliament building are mostly named for the paintings and frescoes that ornament them, hence the names “Nándorfehérvár Room” and “Gobelin Room”. The Hunter Hall is used for receptions and is decorated with beautiful wall paintings. The room was named after the work of art entitled “Hunting”, which can be seen on the south wall. The longer wall displays a series of paintings of the famous castles of historic Hungary.
