THE STATUE OF GÁBOR BAROSS IN A WORTHY PLACE AGAIN

With the progress of the surface reinstatement works at Baross tér connected to the construction of Metro Line M4, the statue of Gábor Baross has now been put in a central and worthy place again. Though the completion of these surface works are due in March 2014, the sand stone plinth of the statue was erected, and after putting up the side figures, the contractor has now placed the renewed statue of the former transport minister into its final place.

The group of statues by Antal Szécsi commemorating the “iron minister” was unveiled in 1898, and stood in the triangular green area in the western edge of the square in the axis of Keleti Railway Station and Rákóczi út, at the beginning of the road leading into the city centre, until 1969. In the meantime, the environment of the railway station attracted the transport of functions of an ever-growing city. During the major transport development projects of the 1960s and 1970s, the square underwent major reconstruction, and the statue was moved from its original place to the eastern part of the square on the departure side of station building. Following the metro construction of the period, the statue was left behind in a place hardly worthy of one of the most significant transport ministers in Hungary, after whom the square is named.

The full-scale reconstruction of Baross tér, which is to be completed by March 2014, enabled the placement of the restored statue in a place worthy of its name. The statue was thus put up on the side of the square near Rákóczi út, the western edge of the square, in a triangular green area between Thököly őt and Kerepesi út, near its original place. It faces Rákóczi út with the Keleti Railway Station and the reconstructed arrival side. The statue group will have a park area around it with decorative paving and will be accessible for walkers-by.

Mayor’s Office of the Municipality of Budapest
Budapest Transport Centre (BKK)
BKV Zrt. DBR Metro Project Directorate

Photos by Szabolcs Pető, DBR