Gyula Andrássy Foundation

Equestrian statue of Count Gyula Andrássy to be placed by the Parliament

As part of the ongoing renovation of Kossuth Square, replicas of the monuments and statues which were in place in the square prior to World War 2 will be returned to the positions of the original statues. A replica of the equestrian statue of Count Gyula Andrassy will be therefore be returned to its original position south of the Parliament during 2014.

The original statue was commissioned by public order in 1890 upon the death of Andrassy. This memorial was awarded by competition which was won by sculptor Gyorgy Zala. Two photos displayed here illustrate the original work.

The statue in bronze, stood on a plinth 7 meters high with a bronze relief of the Coronation of 1867, the culmination of the Compromise with Austria crafted by Deak and Andrassy, on one side of the plinth. On the other side of the plinth was a bronze relief of the Congress of Berlin of 1878 initiated by Andrassy at which the balance of power in Europe was negotiated by the great powers. Replicas of the original reliefs have been commissioned. The equestrian statue which stood on the plinth was 6 meters high and was of rare quality. It dominated the south side of the square and could be easily identified from the Buda side of the Danube.

The original statue was melted down in 1948 under the orders of Communist Party Secretary Comrade Matyas Rakosi to provide part of the bronze required for the construction of the massive statue of Comrade Stalin which in turn was destroyed during the Uprising against the Soviet Union in 1956.