Liberty Square (Budapest)

Szabadság tér - Budapest

Liberty Square (Hungarian: Szabadság tér, pronounced [ˈsɒbɒt͡ʃːaːɡ ˈteːr]) 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]

  1. ^ a b c Steves, Rick; Hewitt, Cameron (2009). Rick Steves' Budapest (1st ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: Avalon Travel. ISBN 978-1598802177.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference turp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ pictures Archived 2014-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Erőss, Ágnes (2016-10-10). ""In memory of victims": Monument and counter-monument in Liberty Square, Budapest". Hungarian Geographical Bulletin. 65 (3): 237–254. doi:10.15201/hungeobull.65.3.3.