Liberty Square ( Hungarian: Szabadság tér) is a public square located in the Lipótváros neighborhood of Budapest, Hungary.
The square is a mix of business and residential. The United States Embassy in Hungary and the historicist style headquarters of the Hungarian National Bank abut the west side of the square. [1] [2] Some buildings on the square are designed in the Art Nouveau style. [1] Ignác Alpár designed two of the buildings. [2] The square houses monuments to Ronald Reagan and Harry Hill Bandholtz and a monument to the Soviet liberation of Hungary in World War II from Nazi German occupation. In 2020, together with the United States Embassy, it built a large statue of US Pres. George H.W. Bush. [1] [3] Some of the monuments like the WWII liberation sculpture were designed by Károly Antal. [2] The Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation portrays Hungary as an angel being attacked by Germany in the form of an eagle -- symbolism that obscures Hungary's willing participation in the Holocaust. A counter-monument that includes photos of Hungarians who were sent to Auschwitz was created in 2014 in front of the memorial. [4]
A barrack-prison ("Újépület") that previously occupied the space, was the site where Prime Minister Lajos Batthyány was executed in 1849, following the Hungarian Revolution. [2] The building was destroyed in 1897 and the square constructed on the site.
Liberty Square ( Hungarian: Szabadság tér) is a public square located in the Lipótváros neighborhood of Budapest, Hungary.
The square is a mix of business and residential. The United States Embassy in Hungary and the historicist style headquarters of the Hungarian National Bank abut the west side of the square. [1] [2] Some buildings on the square are designed in the Art Nouveau style. [1] Ignác Alpár designed two of the buildings. [2] The square houses monuments to Ronald Reagan and Harry Hill Bandholtz and a monument to the Soviet liberation of Hungary in World War II from Nazi German occupation. In 2020, together with the United States Embassy, it built a large statue of US Pres. George H.W. Bush. [1] [3] Some of the monuments like the WWII liberation sculpture were designed by Károly Antal. [2] The Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation portrays Hungary as an angel being attacked by Germany in the form of an eagle -- symbolism that obscures Hungary's willing participation in the Holocaust. A counter-monument that includes photos of Hungarians who were sent to Auschwitz was created in 2014 in front of the memorial. [4]
A barrack-prison ("Újépület") that previously occupied the space, was the site where Prime Minister Lajos Batthyány was executed in 1849, following the Hungarian Revolution. [2] The building was destroyed in 1897 and the square constructed on the site.