General Information
Since its opening in 1837 the National Theatre, the largest such institution in Hungary, used several locations, until their current home was inaugurated in 2002. The impressive modern premises include a round building of the auditorium and stage as well as a park containing numerous memorials dedicated to the Hungarian drama and film industry.
Architecture: Highlights
The whole complex covers the area of 20,844 square metres, and can be functionally separated into three parts: the auditorium and stage, the U-shaped industrial section around the main stage, and the park that surrounds the area. The design caused some controversy, but in the end the construction roughly followed Mária Siklós’s idea.
Architecture: Explained
The second part is the U-shaped industrial section around the main stage. The third section is the park that surrounds the area, containing numerous memorials. The nearby Palace of Arts was opened in 2005.In front of the building the silhouette of the upper façade of the old National Theatre can be seen lying in the water. The side of the building facing the Danube is made of colourful limestone, and decorated with spiritual constructions. One of the riverside park’s constructions is a labyrinth of hedges trimmed to human height. The other is a ziggurat, which can be interpreted as a distant reference to the Tower of Babel or the sun pyramids of the Maya. After climbing the spiral-shaped path to the top of the pyramid, the visitor is greeted by a pair of royal thrones.
History: Highlights
The idea of a national theatre in the capital was formed at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries and was promoted by several great thinkers, including Ferenc Kazinczy. Baron István Széchenyi came up with an idea of a great building on the bank of the Danube, operated in the form of a joint stock company.
History: Explained
The theatre opened on August 22, 1837 under the name Pesti Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theatre of Pest) and played in the Court Theatre of Buda. Its goals were to encourage the development of national drama, and to showcase classics of world literature. The theatre was nationalised in 1840 and its name was changed to National Theatre. Since then there were times when the National Theatre operated in several buildings at the same time. After the demolition of the People’s Theatre a proposal was made to build a new theatre in the City Park, at the Felvonulási square. A tender was held in 1965, but no first prizes were given. In 1999 ministry commissioner György Schwajda entrusted Mária Siklós to make plans for a building at a new location, the bank of the Danube. The construction began in 2000 and the new National Theatre opened on the National holiday, March 15, 2002.