Frigyes Feszl 200

During his lifetime, he made so many plans and tenders, sometimes in associations, sometimes individually; some of them were rewarded, yet his ideas did not materialize, other buildings were built, but they are no longer visible today. The most significant work of his oeuvre received a mixed reception among both contemporary architects and the citizens of Pest, and after the completion of the building, he did not receive major assignments any more. Despite all this, we can respect him as one of the most original personalities of Hungarian and even European romantic architecture. We remember Frigyes Feszl, who was born 200 years ago.

Frigyes Feszl was born in Pest in 1821 to a German-speaking middle-class family from Austria. His father and grandfather were stonemason masters, and his eldest brother was a councillor of Pest from 1848 to 1874. Frigyes attended the Piarist grammar school in Pest, probably studied at József Hild after three years of regular guild training, and then, after receiving his wandering certificate, set out on a European wandering journey in 1839. He toured Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy. He visited Munich several times, where he also enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts and where he was influenced not only by his masters, Klenze, Gärtner and Burklein, but also by the innovative Bavarian architecture working with the round-arched style.

Frigyes Feszl’s notebook with drafts, without date – Budapesti Történeti Múzeum CC BY-NC-ND

Feszl returned home in 1844, settled down in Pest, and worked with Károly Gerster and Lipót Kauser for nine years. This year, he submitted his orientalist, romantic style blueprint to the competition for the Parliament building, where he won first prize and professional recognition that influenced significantly his later career, but our Parliament was not built according to his ideas.

Owing to the reputation and relations brought by his plan, the Kauser-Feszl-Gerster triple association received several orders in Pest, Buda and the surrounding settlements during 9 years. One of their important assignments came from Count István Széchenyi, namely in connection with the independent Industrial School, of which Széchenyi dreamt to be built on Szervita Square. He asked the planning office to design a new church and convent for the Servites, but the project did not materialize. The company presumably met Péter Balassovits and the Oszvald brothers through Széchenyi, and the buildings designed for them can still be seen in the city centre: the Balassovits House is located at 57 Váci Street and the Oszvald House is located at 22 Nádor Street. The Oszvald House is the most important building from the first decade of Feszl's oeuvre. The three-storeyed house was built from July 1846 to September 1848. In 1863 the Oszvald brothers leased it to innkeeper János Frohner and his wife to create a hotel. After the reconstructions, the largest hotel in Pest, the 100-room Frohner Hotel, opened on 1 October, 1864. Later, in 1891, it was renamed Hotel Continental, already owned by György Holzwart.

The building of Hotel Continental (1910s), photo – Magyar Kereskedelmi és Vendéglátóipari Múzeum CC BY-NC-ND

In 1851, Feszl and his partners' office received another unfulfilled assignment: the plans of Ludwig Förster – who was more inclined to compromise – won the design competition for the Dohány Street Synagogue. Later, during the construction, the Jewish community got in disagreement with Förster, so the domed house of worship was realized according to Feszl's ideas.

The Kauser – Feszl – Gerster association broke up in 1854, partly due to a bankruptcy proceeding. The possibility of residential design was closed to Feszl, so he applied for tenders, designed tombstones, and worked on small orders from the city of Pest. He was a member of the jury at the tender of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; he also prepared and painted his visual design, but he did not participate in the tender.

Vigadó of Pest, Budapest, 1866 – Magyar Kereskedelmi és Vendéglátóipari Múzeum CC BY-NC-ND

The Vigadó

The Vigadó was built between 1859 and 1865 on the basis of the Redoute (old Vigadó), designed by Mihály Pollack and destroyed by the Austrians in 1849. The construction was preceded by lengthy negotiations lasting about ten years. The façade of the romantic building, which mixes several styles, is richly decorated; most of the sculptures were made by Károly Alexy, and the interior is decorated with murals by Károly Lotz and Mór Than. For the general public, the opening was held in January 1865, in a ceremonial setting. The Vigadó created a great sensation in its era, and became an undeniably important cultural and artistic institution, but the public taste of that time had already turned away from the romantic style, thus the Vigadó and its designer, Feszl, did not receive much recognition. This fact and his clashes with the authorities during the construction, forced Feszl to retire, and he did not get a major task later. Debussy, Brahms and Liszt visited the concert hall among others, and in addition to classical music concerts, it was also possible to hold balls and receptions in the assembly hall.

The assembly hall of the Vigadó of Pest, 1865. Ferenc Liszt’s concert – Magyar Kereskedelmi és Vendéglátóipari Múzeum CC BY-NC-ND

Feszl's oeuvre can be divided into two groups according to style: the most characteristic of his romantic creative period is the "Rundbogenstil", which is marked by oriental-Moorish round-arched style features, which appear on the Vigadó, and with this building he closed this period. After 1865, Romanticism receded into the background, and historicizing Eclecticism became dominant. This is also evidenced by the drawings that survived in his legacy, including his last unrealized work, the plan of the parish church of Kőbánya, which evokes the world of medieval design. Also in Historicism, he planned residential houses in the period after the Compromise (1867). In the last years of his life, Feszl lived in Kőbánya, his diabetes worsened, and he died of its complications on 25 July, 1884.

Frigyes Feszl’s notebook with drafts, without date – Budapesti Történeti Múzeum CC BY-NC-ND

The Vigadó suffered severe injuries in World War II, and its renovation had to be waited for until the 1970s. It was reopened to the public in 1980, and as a result of the transformations, its concert hall received 700 seats, its chamber hall 220 seats, and its gallery became one of the most important venues for contemporary art in the 1990s. Until 2004, its operation was continuous, but then it was closed due to new renovation work. Between 2007 and 2011, reconstruction came to a halt, with the building standing empty. It was reopened in March 2014 and the architectural elements used in the 1970s disappeared. Feszl's masterpiece and one of the most exciting architectural relics on the Pest side of the Danube can shine again in its old splendour.

Translated by Zita Aknai

Sources:

Recommendation

Klotild Palaces

Ferenciek Square owes its present form to the regulation of downtown Pest, but even more so to the construction of the Erzsébet Bridge. It is unfortunate that the narrow, winding little streets, the old city hall of Pest and many shops on Kígyó Square also fell victim to such a large-scale plan. However, the bridge needed a road to divert traffic to it. This is how the image of the square, which is the structural centre of the capital, changed at the turn of the century, and so new buildings were born, such as the Klotild palaces that still dominate the square.

Secrets of Várkert Bazár

In the December 1874 issue of magazine Vasárnapi Újság (Sunday Newspaper), a short news item appeared: “The construction planned under the Royal Castle Garden will begin in early January, according to the blueprint of our architect Ybl, which best appealed his majesty. The constructions must be completed in 3 years. ” Construction eventually took a little longer, from 1875 to 1883. This week we are dealing with the history of the Várkert Bazár or Castle Garden Bazaar, but in the contemporary photographs, not only the building, but also the changes of the palace and the navigation on the Danube come to life.

From Bridge Society to Chain Bridge

Every bridge of the Danube has world fame because of its beauty, especially the Chain Bridge. Not surprisingly the famous guide-book of author Antal Szerb – A Martian’s Guide to Budapest – also starts from here. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge is the first permanent stone bridge over the Danube in Hungary. Its construction was preceded by fierce debates and a long awaiting time; it was finished by 1849 finally. The irony of fate is that the man who did the most for the bridge could never use it – because István Széchenyi spent his last years at the mental asylum of Döbling.

Miklós Ybl, the capital-letter master of historicism

Miklós Ybl is the most influential Hungarian master architect of the 19th century, who excelled with his talent since his youth. As a renowned architect, he exceeded his contemporaries with his extraordinary working capacity. He did not only work as a manager in his office, but also carried out, or at least supervised, almost all phases of the planning himself. The richness of genre of Ybl’s oeuvre shows how versatile creator he was. From tenement houses of Pest to the Opera House building and to the large-scale complex of the Castle Garden Bazaar, the image of Budapest is still defined by the greatest part of his work. In our latest selection, we pay tribute to his oeuvre.

Local history tour in Újpest

In a few years, Újpest will celebrate the 200th anniversary of its foundation. From the grassland of Megyer, a thriving settlement grew in almost a decade, and by the turn of the century, it had become a major industrial town with a rapidly growing population, public transport, a well-developed infrastructure and a cultural life. In this exhibition, we will take a look at the art nouveau buildings of the turn of the century, which are still standing today, creating a special atmosphere in Újpest, from 1950 onward, in the 4th district of Budapest, dominated by the fast-growing housing estates.

The Royal Hotel

The Royal Hotel or Grand Hotel Royal lived the everyday life of an ancient hotel: celebrities in the guest book, luxurious circumstances, a cinema in the ballroom; but it also witnessed sad events: a quarantine, the settlement of the Gestapo or bombardments in 1956.

More thematic virtual exhibitions