Description

This book is an attempt to collect and systematize the historical material on Hungarian architecture of the turn of the century, which was earlier rejected and cursed, then came into vogue in the sixties and seventies, but has not yet been discovered totally. The work, which introduces the architecture of the ‘secession’ as it was commonly called, although it included several other styles besides the Viennese secession style, enumerates all the important plans and buildings that reflect the characteristically innovative trends of the period from the nineties of the last century to the beginning of the First World War. The detailed data about the activity of approximately 170 architects and the list of the most important relics of the turn of the century in nearly 400 settlements embracing the whole area of Hungary at that time seek to make up for the lack of specialized literature till now about this era.

The introduction of unknown lifeworks, the pictures numbering over 1000 – most of them contemporary photos – the varied selection of documents, the maps giving directions, and the survey providing new points of view for research make this book useful and interesting not only for readers curious about the culture and regional history of the turn of the century but for Hungarian and foreign tourists as well.

The overall picture provided by this book enables this excellent period of Hungarian architecture to be restored to its natural place in the generally known European culture of the turn of the century from which it was displaced by historic changes caused by the First World War.