Habsburg Golden Age & Modern Budapest
The Dual Monarchy (1867–1918)
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 made Hungary an equal partner in the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. Budapest experienced an unprecedented construction boom: The Parliament, the Opera, Andrássy Avenue, the Chain Bridge, the Great Market Hall, the Millennium Underground (the first on the continent!) — all were built in just a few decades. Budapest became a world city, on par with Vienna, and the population exploded from 270,000 (1867) to over 1 million (1910).
The coronation of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth (Sisi) in 1867 at the Matthias Church marked the beginning of this golden era. Sisi, who loved Hungary and spoke Hungarian, is more popular in Budapest today than in Vienna — her name adorns a bridge, a viewpoint, and countless cafés.
The Tragedies of the 20th Century
After World War I, Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory and one-third of its population due to the Treaty of Trianon (1920) — a national trauma that resonates to this day.
In World War II, Budapest was the site of one of the war's worst sieges (December 1944 – February 1945): 38,000 civilians died, all Danube bridges were destroyed, and the Castle District lay in ruins. Before that: the deportation of over 400,000 Hungarian Jews in 1944, the murders on the Danube by the Arrow Cross, and the heroic rescue operations by Raoul Wallenberg and other diplomats.
Communism and Revolution (1945–1989)
After 1945, Hungary became a Soviet satellite state. On October 23, 1956, the Hungarian Revolution broke out: Students and workers demanded democracy and the withdrawal of the Soviets. For two weeks, Budapest was free — then Soviet tanks rolled in and crushed the uprising bloodily (2,500 dead, 200,000 refugees). The bullet holes at the Technical University and the Corvin Cinema are still visible today.
The Turn and the Present
1989: The Iron Curtain fell, partly thanks to Hungary's decision to open the border to Austria and allow East German refugees to leave. Since 2010, Viktor Orbán has governed with his Fidesz party — a topic of controversial debate in the EU and also within Budapest itself. Budapest is a liberal, cosmopolitan island in an increasingly conservative country — the tensions between the capital and the government are palpable.
