As flights to Eastern Europe get cheaper, remnants of the communist era, it seems, have become, rather than simply harrowing, increasingly kitsch. One does not have to hard, anywhere from Berlin to Moscow, to find themed bars packed with communism memorabilia from flags to placards and photographs. But this trend has only recently become apparent. Back in 1994 when the Memento Park in the Hungarian capital of Budapest was created, no such trend existed. The communist era had been over just five years and many people in Eastern Europe felt that reminders of the soviet legacy should be destroyed rather than preserved.
Statue Park Budapest — History and Development
Following the Fall of Communism, citizens of Eastern European cities understandably began tearing down the buildings, statues and symbols of the era and regime that had, since 1949, oppressed so many of them. This process included many of the statues that stand in the Memento Park today. Yet there was one visionary team of people, among them park architect Ákos Eleöd, that believed such monuments should be preserved, as testimony to the tumultuous events of the previous half-century. The highly original result is Budapest's Memento Park, also known as the Communist Statue Park. From the beginning creators were keen to stress the park was not a celebration of communism but a monument to the fall of communism. To this day the park is still very much a work in progress, with scope for statues to be added if necessary.
The park monuments today are a riveting, and poignant insight into life under Communist rule. The immensity of the statues gathered are a testimony to how Communist leaders wanted to impose their authority on the people and glorify the regime. This was achieved to the extent that many of the statues seem, in the twenty-first century, almost preposterous in size and shape. This, however, makes them all the poignant, given how the were so recently a deadly serious part of people's everyday lives.
The Stalin Statue — A Potent Communism Symbol
The statue of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin takes up one side of the park. Although no longer the most visually impressive monument here, its history speaks volumes. Formerly an 8 metre high bronze likeness of Stalin, the original statue was pulled down during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The statue's tall stand, a replica of the original used, now supports merely Stalin's boots, which were left as an ironical reminder of the dictator. This alone is more than enough to convey a sense of how imposing the monument would have been in its heyday. Eleöd, it is quoted in the park museum, wanted this to be a "symbol of the people's fight for freedom," which would be a further thirty-three years in the coming.
Other Memento Park Statues and Sights
Eleöd's idea when creating the park was to surprise visitors with the drama of the communist dictatorship, by containing the park within classic arched walls that give no clue as to what they contain. And surprise, or shock, is certainly one of the first feelings the visitor entering the park has, as a flat plain containing the metallic statues reveals itself.
Prominent Communist party leaders such as Lenin, Engels and Marx are featured but there are more dramatic monuments. The Worker's Movement Memorial, for example, features an enormous pair of cupped hands containing the world within them. Then there is the Republic of Council's Monument, featuring a 30 foot image of a worker running to deliver a message.
These days there is also an informative on-site museum, giving one of the most detailed and visual accounts of the 1956 Uprising around.
Visiting the Communist Statue Park
The park is well outside central Budapest and it is not possible to walk there. There are two ways to get there by public transport. From the corner of Bocskai Ut and Fehervari Ut in Central Budapest, bus 150 runs to the park. An easier option is to go to Kelenfoldi Pu overground railway station and walk up to the Volanzbus Station, where handy buses 710, 720, 721 and 722 head to the park every 15 minutes.
Statue Park Budapest — History and Development
Following the Fall of Communism, citizens of Eastern European cities understandably began tearing down the buildings, statues and symbols of the era and regime that had, since 1949, oppressed so many of them. This process included many of the statues that stand in the Memento Park today. Yet there was one visionary team of people, among them park architect Ákos Eleöd, that believed such monuments should be preserved, as testimony to the tumultuous events of the previous half-century. The highly original result is Budapest's Memento Park, also known as the Communist Statue Park. From the beginning creators were keen to stress the park was not a celebration of communism but a monument to the fall of communism. To this day the park is still very much a work in progress, with scope for statues to be added if necessary.
The park monuments today are a riveting, and poignant insight into life under Communist rule. The immensity of the statues gathered are a testimony to how Communist leaders wanted to impose their authority on the people and glorify the regime. This was achieved to the extent that many of the statues seem, in the twenty-first century, almost preposterous in size and shape. This, however, makes them all the poignant, given how the were so recently a deadly serious part of people's everyday lives.
The Stalin Statue — A Potent Communism Symbol
The statue of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin takes up one side of the park. Although no longer the most visually impressive monument here, its history speaks volumes. Formerly an 8 metre high bronze likeness of Stalin, the original statue was pulled down during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The statue's tall stand, a replica of the original used, now supports merely Stalin's boots, which were left as an ironical reminder of the dictator. This alone is more than enough to convey a sense of how imposing the monument would have been in its heyday. Eleöd, it is quoted in the park museum, wanted this to be a "symbol of the people's fight for freedom," which would be a further thirty-three years in the coming.
Other Memento Park Statues and Sights
Eleöd's idea when creating the park was to surprise visitors with the drama of the communist dictatorship, by containing the park within classic arched walls that give no clue as to what they contain. And surprise, or shock, is certainly one of the first feelings the visitor entering the park has, as a flat plain containing the metallic statues reveals itself.
Prominent Communist party leaders such as Lenin, Engels and Marx are featured but there are more dramatic monuments. The Worker's Movement Memorial, for example, features an enormous pair of cupped hands containing the world within them. Then there is the Republic of Council's Monument, featuring a 30 foot image of a worker running to deliver a message.
These days there is also an informative on-site museum, giving one of the most detailed and visual accounts of the 1956 Uprising around.
Visiting the Communist Statue Park
The park is well outside central Budapest and it is not possible to walk there. There are two ways to get there by public transport. From the corner of Bocskai Ut and Fehervari Ut in Central Budapest, bus 150 runs to the park. An easier option is to go to Kelenfoldi Pu overground railway station and walk up to the Volanzbus Station, where handy buses 710, 720, 721 and 722 head to the park every 15 minutes.
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