Memento Park showcases the life in Hungary under the Soviet rule. Located on the outskirts of Budapest this park is not on the main tourist routes.
This post will show you the main attractions of this “Socialist theme Park” so you can decide if it is worth visiting for you.
At the end of WW II, Hungary was on the losing side. The winning powers – the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union – decided that Hungary would come under the rule of the Soviets and therefore, Stalin.
With the power of the Red Army the communists strengthened their power and repressed the democratic developments, making the Soviet totalitarianism reality. The intellectual and physical isolation of Hungary was complete.
The Communist period in Hungary lasted for 40 years between 1949-1989. Throughout this time statues of Lenin, Marx, Engels, Hungarian Communist leaders and other totalitarian images were standing in numerous parts of Budapest.
Every age has its sculpture fashion. This was no different in Hungary under socialism. From this period we have monumental social artworks. These several meters high, often sweeping, almost menacing sculptures were generally reminiscent of Soviet “liberation”, the labor movement, and thus of socialism in general. Social was compulsory in every art sector, subordinate to the Soviet aspirations of the world.
The sculptures were immediately torn down and removed in 1989 after the fall of Communism.
Just like other Eastern block countries, Hungary had to decide what to do with the giant statues. It would have been easier to destroy them and the memory of the darkest era of Hungary’s history. But only dictatorships erase, democracy does not.
In Hungary, these totalitarian images weren’t buried and destroyed (as many Hungarians wanted to) but were moved to Memento Park to serve as insights into the past and serve as historical curiosities. If you would like to learn about Hungary’s past when life was very different from what it is today, the park gives you a peek into the life behind the iron curtain.
Memento Park was opened in 1993, on the anniversary of the withdrawal of the last Soviet soldier from Hungary.
Memento Park consists of three main areas: the Statue Park, Stalin’s boots on a huge grandstand and a small outbuilding.
Table of Contents
Memento Park: The Statue Park
Entrance
It’s hard to miss the entrance of Memento Park, a wall of red bricks look like a social realist copy of a Greek temple.
In the main entrance to stand the statues of Lenin (on the left) and Marx and Engels (on the right).
Statue of Marx and Engels
Located at the park’s entrance this statue portraits the founding fathers of Communist thought, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
This is the only Cubist-style statue of Marx and Engels.
The four-meter statue was moved from the headquarters of MSZMP (today: Jászai Mari square) to the Memento Park.
Lenin statue
The statue of Vladimir Ilych Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union and leader of the Bolshevik Revolution is located on the left side of the entrance.
This 12-foot-tall bronze statue was made in 1965 and was placed to Parade Square (today: Dózsa György út, right next to Heroes’ Square) to review military parades.
The statue was removed in 1988 for repairs but as the political climate changed it was never put back to its location.
The main area is the Statue Park itself
It contains circular lawns that are surrounded by the statues of the communist leaders and sculptures that represent the communist ideals.
The statues and memorials are organized by theme in 3 large circles:
- the “liberation” memorials,
- the statues of the great ideologies and labor movement,
- the statues representing the ideology itself.
In the center of the park in a circle of grass lies a star of red flowers. The star used to be in a larger circle at the foot of the Chain Bridge on the Buda side.
Main statues in the Memento Park
The Republic of Councils Monument
The most well-known statue in the park is this colossal bronze sculpture of a sailor. It is based on an image from a revolutionary poster from 1919. The statue was once stood at the edge of City Park, near Heroes’ Square.
The huge man seems to be running after someone with a scarf in his hand.
He appears to urinate when it rains. 🤭
Lenin statue
Béla Kun Memorial
This memorial is quite new: it dates back to 1986. It was erected to honor Béla Kun and the short-lived Communist government that gained power at the end of WW1. After the defeat of his government, he fled to Moscow.
The huge metal piece shows the leader, Béla Kun trying to lead a group of workers and soldiers. The memorial has another interpretation: it represents those who were executed by the communist rule.
The martyrs of the counter-revolution memorial
A statue dedicated to the memory of the supporters of the Communist regime, “the martyrs of the counter-revolution,” who died fighting against the 1956 revolutionaries.
Worker breaking through the wall
Hungarian-Soviet Friendship Memorial
Hungarian worker is welcoming a Soviet soldier, a ‘liberator’ with a handshake.
It was built in 1956, the year of the uprising against the Soviet rule so its irony is overwhelming. Note the difference in the hand gestures: the Hungarian holds the hand of the Soviet soldier with both of his hands, showing a genuine hope of friendship. The Soviet soldier holds one hand in reserve.
Liberating Soviet Soldier
This giant, 6-meter high statue once occupied a prominent spot on Gellert Hill overlooking Budapest.
The original of this statue was damaged in the October 1956 Uprising only to be replaced two years later with this copy.
The heroes of the peoples’ power
It memorializes the supporters of the Communist regime who fought against the 1956 freedom fighters. It was unveiled in 1983 and obviously, it wasn’t a popular memorial.
It honors members of the State Security Forces (AVH) or secret police who started the shooting at unarmed demonstrators in the ‘56 Revolution, and who were the only Hungarians that joined the Russians to crush the Revolution (Hungarian soldiers and police were with the Revolutionaries.)
Ostapenko and Captain Steinmetz
These two statues used to man the southern entry gates to Buda and Pest and became a sort of folkloric figures.
Worker’s Monument
In this workers’ monument, hands protect a ball that symbolized the perfect ideology and the progress of workers under the communist regime.
A Lenin statue
Lenin and the masses lying next to him. There were so many monuments like this one all around Budapest.
A Monument to Soviet-Hungarian Friendship 1975
This granite statue is yet another monument trying to force a Soviet-Hungarian friendship to Hungarians.
A Trabant
Trabant the famous “people’s car” was made in East Germany and was very popular in Hungary before 1990.
A Phonebooth
Listen to the voices of Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara and Hungarian figures from the Communist Party.
“This phone can not be used to make national or international calls, it only allows you to travel back in time,” says the sign taped up inside.
Memento Park: Stalin’s boots
Another part of Memento Park is Witness Square, right in front of the entrance of the Park.
The most powerful statue is Stalin’s – Soviet party secretary, head of state and general – that originally stood on the Parade Square. The crowd marching in front of Stalin’s 8 meters high statue, always felt oppressed. People were forced to cheer and celebrate, wave at the communist leaders who stood on the grandstand at the monument’s feet.
Only a replica of the grandstand and Stalin’s boots were added to Memento Park. The original one was torn down on October 23, 1956, by a rebellion against Communist repression.
Visitors can hike up the stairs that hide behind the monument to the balcony, where they’ll be treated to a great view of the park entrance.
Memento Park: The outbuilding
The interior of the bunker-like building is worth checking out. It has an exhibition on the fall of the communist regime.
In a small screening room footages of the secret police training methods in Communist Hungary are shown. Several hundred short films trained the secret agents and spies between 1958 and 1988 to defend the “law and order.”
The Ministry of Interior Affairs had a film studio where these films were made.
The documentaries show the work of the political secret service: how to recruit an agent? How to insert a bug? How to install a secret camera in your bag to spy on your neighbor? What are the best secret surveillance methods?
In 2004 a montage was created by editing these films. It is a unique presentation of the operations and mindset of this ruthless organization run by the Kádár-regime.
The film is divided into four, 10-15-minute long parts:
- The way to hide bugs
- Introduction to house-searching
- Methods of recruitment
- Effective networking
1956
After the death of Stalin in 1953 the Soviets had to realize the mistakes they made in Soviet-controlled countries.
When the Polish demonstrations for better conditions were squelched by the communists, the youth in Budapest organized a demonstration sympathizing with the Polish.
More and more people gathered together at different locations in Budapest. The crowd was peaceful and remained orderly and cheerful but determined. By dusk, about 200,000 people married at the Parliament Building.
The Soviet leadership didn’t want to let their power and influence to weaken.
The first shooting was shot at the building of the Hungarian Radio where a group of students wanted to have their 16-point list of demands read off.
The demonstration turned into a revolt, and as the Soviet occupants and those who were loyal to the communist government turned against them, a war of independence began.
The fights in Budapest were mainly fought by teens and young adults with virtually no weapons. Molotov-cocktail, that was named after a Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, became famous in the revolution as it was used against Soviet tanks. Many armored vehicles were destroyed with these cocktails.
On 23 October the crowd demolished the statue of Stalin. They pulled it down with wire ropes and vehicles. The “Boots” that remained on the pedestal quickly became a symbol of the revolution.
The clashes between the revolters and the Soviet army took place in downtown Budapest and its surrounding districts. Almost all buildings were ruined on the main roads by the Soviet air force, tanks, artillery.
The clashes were finished by 10-11th of November. Several thousand were killed, there were about 20,000 casualties, 22,000 were imprisoned, 229 received the death penalty. Police harassment continued for decades. Those who participated in the smallest extent in the revolution were forced to leave their jobs and weren’t allowed to continue their studies.
The Most Cheerful Barrack
From the 1960s the control loosened, public life became relatively peaceful. The era of the so-called “soft-tyranny” began.
Of course, it makes sense only if we compare Hungary to the other Communist countries. That is why Hungary was called the “most cheerful barrack”.
The Red Army still stationed in Hungary and rebellion against the party that was controlled by the Soviets was out of the question. Hungarians still lived under a strict limitation of their freedom and human rights, information networks worked in all areas of life. Traveling outside the country was prohibited.
Marching on communist holidays was obligatory to cheer the “democratic achievements of socialism”.
By the end of the 1980s, the totalitarian control was no longer preservable. Mikhail Gorbachev realized that the economic and political crisis of the communistic world. The preservation of the Central-Eastern-European power zone was no longer feasible and the new Soviet attitude refused to intervene in the undergoing political changes.
Thoughts on Memento Park
The sheer scale and size of the statues give an insight into how their creators used them to influence and indoctrinate the people of Hungary to follow communist ideals.
For this reason, you can’t help but feel a little uneasy when wandering between them.
But in the context of Memento Park, this threat is somehow lost. As they are standing here, torn out from their original location they seem to be sterile, the treat is distant. It isn’t an accident:
Tips for visiting Memento Park:
Bring some snacks and drinks with you as there is no cafeteria in the park.
Opening times and prices of Memento Park
The park is open every day from 10 am until dusk.
Adults: 1.500 HUF
Students: 1.000 HUF
free with a valid Budapest card
Guided tour (in English) is available from 11:45 each day and lasts 50 minutes.
Getting to Memento Park
Getting to Momento Park is simple and cheap by public transport.
Bus 101B, 101E and 150. The route of bus no 150 is a bit longer but more interesting, it lets you see a Budapest suburb that is far from the tourist attractions.
Take bus number 150 from Allee Shopping Center (Újbuda Központ M4 station; the bus station is to the right of Allee, in front of the market’s building.
You can take this bus from Kelenföld Vasútállomás (Kelenföld Railway Station), too. To get to Kelenföld Vasútállomás, use M4 from one of these stations:
Pest-side:
– Keleti pályaudvar (Keleti Railway Station)
– Rakoczi tér (station of tram No.4 and 6.)
– Kálvin tér (National Museum, tram No.47 and 49, Metro No.3)
– Fővam tér (the Grand Market Hall, tram No.2)
Buda-side:
– Gellért tér (Gellert Bath, tram No.18, 19, 41)
– Móricz Zsigmond körtér
– Újbuda Központ (Allee Shopping Center)
The bus stop is right next to Memento Park, you will see the entrance of the park as you turn to the right after getting off the bus.
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