Liberty Square (, ) is a

public square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

located in the

Lipótváros Lipótváros (, ) is a traditional neighbourhood in the city centre of Budapest, named after Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, King Leopold II. It is one of the two neighbourhoods of Belváros-Lipótváros, District V, the other one being Inner Ci ...

neighborhood of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. The square is a mix of business and residential. The

United States Embassy The United States has the second largest number of active diplomatic posts of any country in the world after the People's Republic of China, including 272 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 174 countries, as well as 11 permanent miss ...

in Hungary and the

historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

style headquarters of the

Hungarian National Bank The Hungarian National Bank ( , MNB) is the central bank of Hungary and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It was established in 1924 as a successor entity of the Austro-Hungarian Bank, under the economic assistance ...

abut the west side of the square. Some buildings on the square are designed in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style.

Ignác Alpár Ignác Alpár József (born Schöckl József; 17 January 1855 in Pest, Hungary, Pest – 27 April 1928 in Zürich) was a Hungary, Hungarian architect.

designed two of the buildings. The square houses monuments to

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Harry Hill Bandholtz Harry Hill Bandholtz (December 18, 1864 – May 7, 1925) was a United States Army career officer who served for more than a decade in the Philippines. He was a Major general (United States), major general during World War I, and the US represent ...

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. Some of the monuments like the WWII liberation sculpture were designed by Károly Antal. 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 Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

was created in 2014 in front of the memorial.

History

A barrack-prison ("''Újépület''") that previously occupied the space, was the site where Prime Minister

Lajos Batthyány Count Lajos Batthyány de Németújvár (; ; 10 February 1807 – 6 October 1849) was the first Prime Minister of Hungary. He was born in Pozsony (modern-day Bratislava) on 10 February 1807, and was executed by firing squad in Pest, Hungary, Pe ...

was executed in 1849, following the Hungarian Revolution. The building was destroyed in 1897 and the square constructed on the site.

Gallery

Budapest, Szabadság tér légifotó.jpg, The former

Budapest Stock Exchange Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) (, (BÉT)) is the Stock exchange, third largest stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe by market capitalization and Market liquidity, liquidity. It is located at 55 Krisztina Boulevard, Budapest, Hungary, in ...

looking southeast Budapešť 0892.jpg, The former home of the Budapest Stock exchange Magyar Nemzeti Bank épületének nyugati homlokzata. - 2009, Budapest.jpg,

Statue of Harry Hill Bandholtz, 2009 BudapestDSCN3538.jpg, Monument to US General

Intereuropabank Budapest 2005 097.jpg, Monument to the

Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of Peop ...

(1946) Monument to the victims of the German occupation (2).jpg, Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation (2014)

References

{{Budapest Belváros-Lipótváros Squares in Budapest

History

Gallery

See also

References