Budapest's Great Market Hall: 1897

My late mother in law came from a small Czech town, yet she loved visiting her uncles in the booming city of Budapest. And although she arrived in Australia back in 1951, she didn’t get back to either her Czech home or Budapest until 1993. Here was one of her favourite sites.

Front entrance of the Great Market Hall

with Zsolnay tiles on the roof

Budapest

Óbuda, Buda and Pest were united into one single city in 1873, and Budapest’s population was increasing significantly. After Vienna it became the second biggest city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Open markets used to operate without quality control in Budapest until 1879, when a Public Food Committee was founded.

The capital management announced a tender in 1892. From all the en­t­ries received, Prof Sam Pecz of the Technical University was chos­en to design the project. The location of the Great Market Hall was sel­ected carefully, considering the local popul­ation and infra­structure, near the busy port on the River Danube. And the market hall was built on the Pest side of Liberty Bridge. 

Budapest had experienced rapid economic growth when transport and trade expansion took place. But not everyone did well. The city leaders urged generous gestures to solve the market problem. Budapest's Grand Mar­ket Hall found itself opening in time for the Hungarian Millennium, in 1896. Before then, the farmers used to come in from rural areas and sell their products at outdoor market pl­ac­es, a chaotic and unhygienic method of commerce. In any case, Budapest’s outdoor markets could no longer adequately supply the increasing population with fresh produce.

Building accessible markets and halls, while respecting the city's exist­ing urban fabric and uniqueness, was proposed by the French engineer Besnier de la Pontonerie. He adopt­ed the Fren­ch model of easily accessible markets to provide fresh, heal­thy, affordable food in the Hungarian city.

So the decision was made to build cov­ered markets, similar to those in Paris. Five market halls were commissioned around Budapest by the end of the century. Building the Great Market Hall st­ar­ted in 1894, to be the largest and the most modernised. The enor­mous st­ruc­ture was supp­orted by slender steel columns, allowing for exten­sive sun­light to make its way into the market. The roof was to be covered with colourful Hungarian Zsolnay roof tiles in a zigzagging pattern, and a wrought-iron structure throughout.

But in 1896, a few days before the public were invited in, fire de­stroyed half the roof. After repairing the roof, the market fin­ally opened in Mar­ch 1897 when Zsolnay tiles re-décor­at­ed the new roof struc­t­ure. In Feb 1897, the inauguration cerem­on­ies were held in this very modern, electrified hall.

To ensure the goods' smooth delivery, a short railway was laid to connect the market with the Danube bank so the fresh produce could be transported along it daily. The market apparently had a canal that ran right through the centre, allow­ing fresh goods to be delivered to the traders via barge! Eventually the mar­ket was divided down the cen­t­re by a wide, paved thoroughfare, instead of the canal. Wholesalers were situated on the west and retailers on the east.

wide, paved thoroughfare through the market

and high arched ceiling

The exterior steel structure resembled a railway station, but once when the customer entered, it was clear that the hall’s spacious (10,000 sq ms) interior un­der the gracious roof structure had always been a market.

The hall had some eminent visitors eg Emperor Franz Joseph who vis­ited the market hall soon after the opening. His Majesty was pleas­ed by the architecture and he really liked the the Zsolnay ceramics on the roof. Market Hall, he said, was one of the most beautiful, airy creations of brick architecture in Hungary, and the neo­gothic entrance gate was outstanding. 

Note the wrought iron work

and slender steel columns

From 1897 the official Market Hall Report newspaper appeared twice weekly, informing the community about the prices and encour­aging customers to try new products. The usual shout­ing to attract market cust­om­ers was forbidden.  

The Market Hall provided fresh food for Budapest for 45 years, but it suffered a bomb hit during WW2 and was damaged badly. It was rebuilt very quickly in the 50s, but by the early 90s the structure had weakened and the site had became dangerous.

In 1991-4 a complete renovation was started by the city govern­ment which brought the market back to its original splendour. Renov­at­ions were made to both the interior and exterior, and new Zsolnay tiles were crafted for the roof. The result was a clean, bright, colourful new market that my late mother-in-law loved.

Today the Central Market Hall is one of the most popular tourist attract­ions of the city. It has three storeys of stalls selling a variety of wares. Most of the stalls on the very busy ground floor offer pastries, sweets, aromatic spices eg tradit­ional Hungarian paprika and spirits eg Tokaji wine. Wander around the rows on the ground floor to see and buy exotic fruits and vegetables.

The upper floor has mainly eateries, food stands, buffets and little restaur­ants. A guide can help to get the best tastings in each row, including the various sublime strudels! The upper floor also has a rich selection of Hung­ar­ian embroidery, white peasant shirts, souvenirs and art and crafts.

Fruit and vegetables

Hungarian embroidery and peasant shirts

In the basement, see the supermarket, fishmongers and butcher shops. Hungarians eat meat very often, so see a wide range of dif­ferent sausages, salamis, fresh meat and all kinds of animal parts.

In the belle-époque era the market was loved in Budapest, and today the Great Market Hall still stands as one of the most fascin­at­ing living monuments of Hungary’s capital.  The Great Market Hall was listed as a national monument in 1977, and its re­n­ovat­ion in 1999 earned an architectural prize.