Funicular Hiccups

Budapest, Hungary

Daylight hours are extremely limited here this time of year. The sun sets before 4:00 p.m. and doesn’t rise until around 8:00 a.m. We tried to make as much use of the daylight as possible, but quickly learned most things don’t open until 10:00 a.m.

Our first hour or so was spent exploring the Buda Castle grounds- a short walk from our hotel. None of the museums or indoor exhibits were open yet, but we got a great view of the grounds without too many other people in our way.

The castle, built in 1265 by Hungarian kings (though the majority of what still stands today was built in the 1700s), sits atop Castle Hill. The castle is connected to the rest of the city by a bizillion steps or a fun little funicular.

We chose the funicular. It was a short ride with a great view of St Stephen’s Basilica. The Funicular, first built in 1870, is the second oldest train of its type. Oddly enough, upon exiting the funicular (both going down and going up later in the day) I had the most intense - hard to shake - hiccups ever.

Still hiccuping, I followed Josh across the bridge to the Pest side of Budapest. Our first stop was the Hungarian Parliment building. As I mentioned yesterday, the Parliment building is one of the largest in the world. We had hoped to do a tour inside the building but the English tours were completely sold out. So, we settled for a walk around the campus and ended up on the bank of the Danube river in front of the Parliment building.

A short way past the government complex, is one of the most compelling memorials/pieces of art I’ve ever visited. The Shoes on the Danube Bank was created by Gyula Pauer in 2005 as a memorial to the 3500 Jewish Hungarians who were murdered by facists Hungarian militiamen in WWII.

People were ordered to take their shoes off before being gunned down on the river bank where their bodies would fall into the Danube and wash down stream. There was a bit of a crowd at the memorial, but it was a somber crowd. The sculpted children’s shoes were especially heartbreaking.

After that we walked to Liberty Square - near the US Embassy - to see a few political sculptures. One of the most unusual sculptures was the life-size Ronald Regan replica to honor his contributions to the ending of the Cold War.

Nearby was the last remaining Soviet War Memorial in Budapest - an imposing stone monument erected to honor the Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Hungary during WWII.

Nearby that monument was another pro-US monument dedicated to Harry Hill Bandholtz, a US Army Officer who helped in rebuilding efforts in Hungary after WWI. He was personally responsible for preventing looting and destruction of the National Gallery and other National museums by the retreating Romanian soldiers at the conclusion of WWI.

A statute honoring him was erected by the Hungarian government in 1936. In 1949, after the communist came to power in Hungary, it was dismantled and tossed in the junk yard outside the city. It was not re-erected in its original location until 1989 after the end of the Cold War. We really got a feel for the nonsense games often played in Cold War era politics just walking through this square.

The final statue we uncovered was the subject of some fairly recent controversy. Called the Memorial to the Victims of German Occupation. It was installed by the Hungarian Government in 2014 in the middle of the night. It depicts the Nazis (symbolized by a black eagle) swooping down on to grab Hungary (symbolized by their version of lady liberty holding an orb that represents Hungary).

Critics have argued that this is a whitewashing of Hungarian history - insinuating that Hungary was a victim of Nazi forces - despite the reality that HungarIan Government was in many ways aligned with Germany and an active particpant in Nazi cruelities.

More interesting than the statue itself was the artistic display of protest across from it. Covered with photos, articles and personal affects (like suitcases) of victims of WWII atrocities.

The display includes an article sharing the opinion of those who created the protest display. The article, printed in numerous languages, condemns and disparages the monument - explainging the political climate of nativist retorique and the attempt at revisionist history the current political administration is trying to portray through this monument.

On our way out of Liberty Square and toward St. Stephen’s Basilica we stumbled upon a huge Christmas Market outside the Basilica. This consumed our next 2 hours. But we did have an amazing piecemeal lunch from the various stalls along the way (mulled strawberry wine, potato pancakes with ham, a gingerbread cone of delicious doughy goodness filled with vanilla mousse and whipped cream). Mmm.

After a comparatively unremarkable dinner, we joined the last guided tour of the night at the Hospital in the Rock Museum. At this point, Josh and I have visited more museums than we can count. It takes a lot to impress us and this museum really wowed us both!

No photos were allowed in the museum, but the history of the place paints its own picture. The hospital was oringially built as a fully functional hospital operating as an arm of the nearby St. John’s Hospital. Established in the 1930s and intended to house approximately 60 patients, the hospital was built into the natural caves that wound beneath Castle Hill.

During WWII, the hospital was used to treat air stoke patients. It quickly exceeded its capacity treating around 200 patients (both Hungarian soliders and citizens and Nazi occupying troops were treated there as it was a Red Cross Certified Hospital - open to all).

In 1945, during the 50 day Siege of Budapest (the third longest Siege of a city during WWII), capcity limits were shattered as doctors and nurses attempted to threat nearly 700 wounded, sick and dying patients.

Conditions in the hospital were dire due to overcrowding and limited water supplies. Beds were pushed together and bunked to hold 5-6 patients. The most ill/injured were placed on the bottom level on the sides. Those in need of less care were placed on the top bunks and in the middle of the bottom beds. Other patients were moved into the natural caves. Tempatures in the treatment rooms reached 100 degrees (and smoking was allowed in the rooms in those days). During the Siege, when water supplies depleated, the hospital operated without water (except for what the nurses could find and carry in from above ground). The one operating room was used for two surgeries in conjunction without partitions. Bandages were removed from dead bodies and used on the living.

The hospital was closed after WWII, but re-opened briefly in 1956 during the Hungarian revolution when Hungarian protestors used the hospital as a refuge for their injured after the Soviets came into the city with tanks to stomp out the revolution. There was such a need for medical staff, that the class of nursing students at the nearby nursing school came to assist - some women were as young as 16 years old.

After that, the hospital was classified as Top Secret by the Soviet Union. Parts of the hospital were expanded and turned into a bomb shelter and bunker. The building was declassified in the 1980s after the Cold War. And now it serves as a pretty cool museum featuring medical equipment from the 1940s/50s.

The most disturbing medical insturment we saw was a table in the operating room specifically for resetting broken bones. The table had a boot attached to the end. The patient would be strapped to the table and have the foot of their broken leg placed in the boot. The doctors would then twist the boot until the leg was back in place. Talk about painful!