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91-448: Ephraim Kishon was born on August 23, 1924, by the name of Ferenc Hoffmann into a middle-class Jewish family in Budapest , Hungary. In his youth he knew neither Hebrew nor Yiddish . His father worked as a bank manager and his mother was a former secretary. Kishon also had a sister who was a writer. His writing talent became evident in his youth. In 1940 he won his first prize for writing

182-524: A Spanish diplomat. Some other diplomats also abandoned diplomatic protocol and rescued Jews. There are two monuments for Wallenberg, one for Carl Lutz and one for Giorgio Perlasca in Budapest. Following the capture of Hungary from Nazi Germany by the Red Army , Soviet military occupation ensued, which ended only in 1991. The Soviets exerted significant influence on Hungarian political affairs. In 1949, Hungary

273-483: A cave where fires burned or a limekiln. The first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD. It was later occupied by the Romans . The Roman settlement – Aquincum – became the main city of Pannonia Inferior in 106 AD. At first it was a military settlement, and gradually the city rose around it, making it the focal point of the city's commercial life. Today this area corresponds to

364-570: A church, the Inner City Parish Church (Budapest) . The minaret and Turkish entranceway were removed. The shape of the architecture is its only hint of exotic past—"two surviving prayer niches facing Mecca and an ecumenical symbol atop its cupola: a cross rising above the Turkish crescent moon". After 1686, the Baroque architecture designated the dominant style of art in catholic countries from

455-501: A novel for high school students. Due to the racial laws applied in Hungary during World War II, he was not allowed to continue his studies at the university and therefore he began to study jewelry making in 1942. During World War II the Nazis imprisoned him in several concentration camps . At one camp his chess talent helped him survive, as he played chess with the guards. In another camp,

546-639: A nurse while learning the Hebrew language during his free time with the help of his neighbor Joseph Bilitzer. During this period he wrote several humorous lists for the Hungarian newspaper " Új Kelet ". Afterwards Kishon moved to a housing project. He studied Hebrew at the Ulpan "Etzion" in Jerusalem, and soon became proficient in the language. Nevertheless, his heavy Hungarian accent accompanied him throughout his life. Mastering

637-729: A popular Israeli writer, he still felt he was getting negative treatment from the Israeli media due to the fact he was rather right wing in his political views. Kishon died on January 29, 2005, at his home in Switzerland at the age of 80 following a cardiac arrest . His body was flown to Israel and he was buried at the Trumpeldor Cemetery in Tel Aviv. Kishon initially lived in the "Sha'ar Ha'Aliyah" transit camp near Haifa, and soon afterwards moved to Kibbutz Kfar Hahoresh , in which he worked as

728-508: A population of 3,303,786. It is a primate city , constituting 33% of the population of Hungary. The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into the Roman town of Aquincum , the capital of Lower Pannonia . The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century, but the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–42. Re-established Buda became one of

819-638: A rapid increase in the average temperature. The weather in late March and in April is often very agreeable during the day and fresh at night. Budapest's long summer – lasting from May until mid-September – is warm or very warm. Sudden heavy showers also occur, particularly in May and June. The autumn in Budapest (mid-September until late October) is characterised by little rain and long sunny days with moderate temperatures. Temperatures often turn abruptly colder in late October or early November. Mean annual precipitation in Budapest

910-585: A river near Haifa, the Israeli city on Mount Carmel . His first marriage to Eva (Chawa) Klamer in 1946 ended in divorce . In 1959, he married Sara ( née Lipovitz), who died in 2002. In 2003, he married the Austrian writer Lisa Witasek. Kishon had three children: Raphael (b. 1957), Amir (b. 1963), and Renana (b. 1968). In 1981, Kishon established a second home in the rural Swiss canton of Appenzell as he felt unwelcome in Israel due to his status as an immigrant. Being

1001-529: A transitional climate between a humid temperate climate ( Köppen : Cfa , Trewartha : Doak ), and a humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfa , Trewartha : Dcao ), with warm to hot summers and chilly winters. Winter (November until early March) can be cold and the city receives little sunshine. Snowfall is fairly frequent in most years, and nighttime temperatures of −10 °C (14 °F) are not uncommon between mid-December and mid-February. The spring months (March and April) see variable conditions, with

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1092-415: A wide range of styles and from distinct time periods, from the ancient times as Roman City of Aquincum in Óbuda (District III), which dates to around 89 AD, to the most modern Palace of Arts , the contemporary arts museum and concert hall. Most buildings in Budapest are relatively low: in the early 2010s there were around 100 buildings higher than 45 metres (148 ft). The number of high-rise buildings

1183-457: A year before the end of World War II , Budapest was partly destroyed by British and American air raids (first attack 4 April 1944 ). From 24 December 1944 to 13 February 1945, the city was besieged during the Battle of Budapest . Budapest sustained major damage caused by the attacking Soviet and Romanian troops and the defending German and Hungarian troops. More than 38,000 civilians died during

1274-520: Is a blend of several architectural styles, with a focus on Hungary's specialities. One of the leading Art Nouveau architects, Ödön Lechner (1845–1914), was inspired by Indian and Syrian architecture as well as traditional Hungarian decorative designs. One of his most beautiful buildings in Budapest is the Museum of Applied Arts . Another examples for Art Nouveau in Budapest is the Gresham Palace in front of

1365-519: Is a wedge with a 56 angle degree made in rusted iron that gradually becomes shiny, ending in an intersection to symbolize Hungarian forces that temporarily eradicated the Communist leadership. From the 1960s to the late 1980s Hungary was often satirically referred to as " the happiest barrack " within the Eastern bloc , and much of the wartime damage to the city was finally repaired. Work on Erzsébet Bridge ,

1456-718: Is also the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology , the European Police College and the first foreign office of the China Investment Promotion Agency . Over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including Eötvös Loránd University , Corvinus University , Semmelweis University , University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics . Opened in 1896,

1547-429: Is around 23.5 inches (596.9 mm). On average, there are 84 days with precipitation and 1988 hours of sunshine (of a possible 4383) each year. From March to October, average sunshine totals are roughly equal to those seen in northern Italy ( Venice ). The city lies on the boundary between Zone 6 and Zone 7 in terms of the hardiness zone . Weather Atlas (UV) Budapest has architecturally noteworthy buildings in

1638-411: Is difficult to defend a plain. King Béla IV of Hungary , therefore, ordered the construction of reinforced stone walls around the towns and set his own royal palace on the top of the protecting hills of Buda. In 1361 it became the capital of Hungary. The cultural role of Buda was particularly significant during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus . The Italian Renaissance had a great influence on

1729-462: Is found. Various cultures converged in Hungary seemed to coalesce well with each other, as if all these different cultures and architecture styles are digested into Hungary's own way of cultural blend. A precedent to show the city's self-conscious is the top section of the city's main square, named as Szechenyi . When Turks came to the city, they built mosques here which was aggressively replaced with Gothic church of St. Bertalan. The rationale of reusing

1820-500: Is kept low by building legislation, which is aimed at preserving the historic cityscape and to meet the requirements of the World Heritage Site . Strong rules apply to the planning, authorisation and construction of high-rise buildings and consequently much of the inner city does not have any. Some planners would like see an easing of the rules for the construction of skyscrapers, and the possibility of building skyscrapers outside

1911-456: Is often used pars pro toto for the entire city in contemporary colloquial Hungarian, although it is also used to refer to all parts of the city east of the Danube. Conversely, Buda colloquially means all districts to the Danube's west—including the former Óbuda. The Danube islands—including Csepel , the city's XXI. district—are part of neither Buda nor Pest. All varieties of English pronounce

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2002-540: Is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second largest city on the Danube river. The city has an estimated population of 1,752,286 over a land area of about 525 square kilometres (203 square miles). Budapest, which is both a city and municipality , forms the centre of the Budapest metropolitan area , which has an area of 7,626 square kilometres (2,944 square miles) and

2093-670: The -s- as in the English word pest . The -u in Buda- is pronounced either /u/ like food (as in US : / ˈ b uː d ə p ɛ s t / ) or /ju/ like cue (as in UK : / ˌ b ( j ) uː d ə ˈ p ɛ s t , ˌ b ʊ d -, ˈ b ( j ) uː d ə p ɛ s t , ˈ b ʊ d -/ ). In Hungarian, the -s- is pronounced /ʃ/ as in wash ; in IPA: Hungarian: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] . The origins of

2184-515: The Aromanian diaspora during the 19th century. In 1918, Austria-Hungary lost the war and collapsed; Hungary declared itself an independent republic ( Republic of Hungary ). In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon partitioned the country, and as a result, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory, and about two-thirds of its inhabitants, including 3.3 million out of 15 million ethnic Hungarians. In 1944,

2275-453: The Battle of Southern Buh , settled in the territory at the end of the 9th century displacing the founding Bulgarian settlers of the towns of Buda and Pest, and a century later officially founded the Kingdom of Hungary . Research places the probable residence of the Árpáds as an early place of central power near what became Budapest. The Tatar invasion in the 13th century quickly proved it

2366-496: The Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest was opened as the first permanent bridge across the Danube and in 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third part, Óbuda (Old Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade and cultural hub. Ethnic Hungarians overtook Germans in the second half of the 19th century due to mass migration from

2457-772: The Danube Promenade , both designed by architect Frigyes Feszl (1821–1884). Another noteworthy structure is the Budapest Western Railway Station , which was designed by August de Serres and built by the Eiffel Company of Paris in 1877. Art Nouveau came into fashion in Budapest by the exhibitions which were held in and around 1896 and organised in connection with the Hungarian Millennium celebrations. Art Nouveau in Hungary ( Szecesszió in Hungarian)

2548-532: The Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated one and a half years later, with the help of the Russian Empire. 1867 was the year of Reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary . This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest , lasting until World War I . In 1849

2639-609: The Kishon Chesster , a chess computer distinguished by the spoken comments it would make during a game. Kishon wrote the comments to be humorous, but were also carefully chosen to be relevant to chess and the position in the game. Kishon's sketches and plays have been translated and performed on stages and television networks worldwide. Kishon expanded into cinema in the early 1960s. He wrote, directed and produced five feature films, all of them comedic /satirical movies. Three movies were nominated for major international awards including

2730-659: The Matthias Church , where much of the original material was used (originally built in Romanesque style in 1015). The next chapter in the history of human architecture is Renaissance architecture . One of the earliest places to be influenced by the Renaissance style of architecture was Hungary, and Budapest in particular. The style appeared following the marriage of King Matthias Corvinus and Beatrice of Naples in 1476. Many Italian artists, craftsmen and masons came to Buda with

2821-561: The 14th century and No. 31 Úri Street, which has a Gothic façade that dates back to the 15th century. Other buildings with Gothic features are the Inner City Parish Church , built in the 12th century, and the Mary Magdalene Church, completed in the 15th century. The most characteristic Gothic-style buildings are actually Neo-Gothic , like the most well-known Budapest landmarks, the Hungarian Parliament Building and

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2912-523: The 17th century to the 18th century. There are many Baroque-style buildings in Budapest and one of the finest examples of preserved Baroque-style architecture is the Church of St. Anna in Batthyhány square . An interesting part of Budapest is the less touristy Óbuda, the main square of which also has some beautiful preserved historic buildings with Baroque façades. The Castle District is another place to visit where

3003-521: The 1980s, the city's population reached 2.1 million. In recent times a significant decrease in population occurred mainly due to a massive movement to the neighbouring agglomeration in Pest county , i.e., suburbanisation. In the last decades of the 20th century the political changes of 1989–90 ( Fall of the Iron Curtain ) concealed changes in civil society and along the streets of Budapest. The monuments of

3094-442: The 21st century, Budapest faces new challenges in its architecture. The pressure towards the high-rise buildings is unequivocal among today's world cities, but preserving Budapest's unique cityscape and its very diverse architecture, along with green areas, forces Budapest to balance between them. The Contemporary architecture has wide margin in the city. Public spaces attract heavy investment by business and government also, so that

3185-413: The 525 square kilometres (203 square miles) occupied by the city, 83 square kilometres (32 square miles) is green area, park and forest. The forests of Buda hills are environmentally protected. The city's importance in terms of traffic is very central, because many major European roads and European railway lines lead to Budapest. The Danube was and is still an important water-way and this region in

3276-702: The Austro-Hungarian army along the Eastern front of World War I . Taken prisoner by the Russians during the Brusilov Offensive in 1916, he joined a group of Hebrew writers in Odessa after his release. With their support, he emigrated to Palestine in 1921, and fought in the 1948 War of Independence. He recorded the events of his war service in his memoirs, The Great Madness (1929) and Hell on Earth (1932). Alon Rachamimov writes that Hameiri's war stories "reveal

3367-534: The Budapest radio station and demanded to publish their demands. The regime ordered troops to shoot into the crowd. Hungarian soldiers gave rifles to the demonstrators who were now able to capture the building. This initiated the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . The demonstrators demanded to appoint Imre Nagy to be Prime Minister of Hungary . To their surprise, the central committee of the " Hungarian Working People's Party " did so that same evening. This uprising

3458-587: The Chain Bridge, the Hotel Gellért , the Franz Liszt Academy of Music or Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden . It is one of the world's outstanding urban landscapes and illustrates the great periods in the history of the Hungarian capital. The second half of the 20th century also saw, under the communist regime, the construction of blocks of flats ( panelház ), as in other Eastern European countries. In

3549-684: The English translations are Look Back Mrs. Lot (1960), Noah's Ark, Tourist Class (1962), The Seasick Whale (1965), and two books on the Six-Day War and its aftermath, So Sorry We Won (1967), and Woe to the Victors (1969). Two collections of his plays have also appeared in Hebrew: Shemo Holekh Lefanav (1953) and Ma´arkhonim (1959). Kishon's books have been translated into 37 languages and sold particularly well in Germany. Kishon rejected

3640-582: The Germans lined up the inmates and shot every tenth person, but passed him by. He later wrote in his book The Scapegoat , "They made a mistake—they left one satirist alive". He eventually managed to escape the concentration camps while being transported to the Sobibor extermination camp in Nazi German Occupied Poland, and hid the remainder of the war disguised as "Stanko Andras", a Slovak laborer. After

3731-509: The Golden Globe award (two wins) and the Oscar (two nominations): Kishon was nominated twice for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and three times for a Golden Globe Award. He won two Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film Awards, for Sallah Shabati (1964), and The Policeman (1971). Budapest Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary . It

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3822-441: The Hebrew language with remarkable speed, in 1951 Kishon began writing a satirical column in the easy-Hebrew daily, Omer , after only two years in the country. Later on Kishon began writing for the newspaper " Davar " (which was very influential at the time) in which he published a satire called "The Blaumilch Canal". That same year he published his first book in Israel "Ha-ole Ha-Yored le-Chayenu"- "The Pestering Immigrant", (a pun on

3913-522: The Hebrew word for "Immigrant") which was written in Hungarian and translated into Hebrew by Avigdor Hameiri . The book was mostly about the life experiences of new immigrants in Israel during the 1950s. In 1952 Kishon began writing a regular satirical column called "Had Gadya" ("One Young Goat" in Aramaic, taken from the Passover Seder liturgy) in the daily Hebrew tabloid " Ma'ariv ". Kishon kept writing

4004-552: The Hungarian language is now called Budavár [Buda Castle] and by the Germans Etzelburg [Attila Castle] There are several theories about Pest. One states that the name derives from Roman times , since there was a local fortress ( Contra-Aquincum ) called by Ptolemy "Pession" ("Πέσσιον", iii.7.§ 2). Another has it that Pest originates in the Slavic word for cave, пещера , or peštera . A third cites пещ , or pešt , referencing

4095-586: The Pálvölgyi cave (total length 7,200 m or 23,600 ft) and the Szemlőhegyi cave (total length 2,200 m or 7,200 ft). The hills were formed in the Triassic Period. The highest point of the hills and of Budapest is János Hill , at 527 metres (1,729 feet) above sea level . The lowest point is the line of the Danube which is 96 metres (315 feet) above sea level. Budapest is also rich in green areas. Of

4186-474: The V. district is in the very center of Pest and inaugurates a new circle that then loops back through Pest to Buda as the VI., VII., VIII., IX., XI., and XII. districts. Districts XIII., XIV., XV., XVI., XVII., XVIII., XIX., XX., XXI., and XXII. form yet another semicircle in outermost Pest. Districts X. and XXIII. form irregularities within the overall pattern. Budapest is the most populous city in Hungary and one of

4277-526: The agglomeration in Pest county. The capital extends 25 and 29 km (16 and 18 mi) in the north–south, east–west direction respectively. The Danube enters the city from the north; later it encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island . The third island Csepel Island is the largest of the Budapest Danube islands, however only its northernmost tip is within city limits. The river that separates

4368-471: The base of the former Islamic building mosque and reconstruction into Gothic Church but Islamic style architecture over it is typically Islamic are still visible. An official term for the rationale is spolia . The mosque was called the djami of Pasha Gazi Kassim, and djami means mosque in Arabic. After Turks and Muslims were expelled and massacred from Budapest, the site was reoccupied by Christians and reformed into

4459-893: The best examples are the Hungarian National Museum , the Lutheran Church of Budavár (both designed by Pollack) and the seat of the Hungarian president , the Sándor Palace . The most iconic and widely known Classicist-style attraction in Budapest is the Széchenyi Chain Bridge . Budapest's two most beautiful Romantic architecture buildings are the Great Synagogue in Dohány Street and the Vigadó Concert Hall on

4550-508: The best-known landmark Buda Royal Palace and many other buildings were built in the Baroque style. The Classical architecture and Neoclassical architecture are the next in the timeline. Budapest had not one but two architects that were masters of the Classicist style. Mihály Pollack (1773–1855) and József Hild (1789–1867), built many beautiful Classicist-style buildings in the city. Some of

4641-782: The centre of the Pannonian Basin , lies on an ancient route linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain. By road it is 216 kilometres (134 mi) south-east of Vienna , 545 kilometres (339 mi) south of Warsaw , 1,565 kilometres (972 mi) south-west of Moscow, 1,122 kilometres (697 mi) north of Athens , 1,235 kilometres (767 mi) north-east of Rome , 788 kilometres (490 mi) north-east of Milan , 443 kilometres (275 mi) south-east of Prague , 343 kilometres (213 mi) north-east of Zagreb , 748 kilometres (465 mi) north-east of Split and 1,329 kilometres (826 mi) north-west of Istanbul . The 525 square kilometres (203 sq mi) area of Budapest lies in Central Hungary , surrounded by settlements of

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4732-521: The centre of the Carpathian Basin lies at the cross-roads of trade routes . Budapest is one of only three capital cities in the world which has thermal springs (the others being Reykjavík in Iceland and Sofia in Bulgaria ). Some 125 springs produce 70 million litres (15,000,000 imperial gallons; 18,000,000 US gallons) of thermal water a day, with temperatures ranging up to 58 Celsius. Some of these waters have been claimed to have medicinal effects due to their high mineral contents. Budapest has

4823-422: The centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century. The Battle of Mohács , in 1526, was followed by nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule. After the reconquest of Buda in 1686, the region entered a new age of prosperity, with Pest-Buda becoming a global city after the unification of Buda, Óbuda and Pest on 17 November 1873, with the name 'Budapest' given to the new capital. Budapest also became

4914-468: The city center in its broadest sense, corresponding roughly to the 1873 municipal boundaries. Budapest's districts are numbered according to three concentric semicircles. The I. district is a small area in central Buda, including the Castle Quarter . District II. is in Buda to the castle's northwest while district III. stretches along the northernmost part of Buda and includes the former Óbuda. District IV. continues this semicircle in northernmost Pest, but

5005-527: The city has gained entirely new (or renovated and redesigned) squares, parks and monuments, for example the city central Kossuth Lajos square , Deák Ferenc square and Liberty Square . Numerous landmarks have been created in the last decade in Budapest, like the National Theatre , Palace of Arts, Rákóczi Bridge , Megyeri Bridge , Budapest Airport Sky Court among others, and millions of square meters of new office buildings and apartments . But there are still large opportunities in real estate development in

5096-426: The city of Sicambria in Pannonia, where he killed Buda , his brother, and he threw his corpse into the Danube . For while Attila was in the west, his brother crossed the boundaries in his reign, because he named Sicambria after his own name Buda's Castle. And though King Attila forbade the Huns and the other peoples to call that city Buda's Castle, but he called it Attila's Capital, the Germans who were terrified by

5187-447: The city's historic core has been raised. In the chronological order of architectural styles Budapest is represented on the entire timeline, starting with the Roman City of Aquincum representing ancient architecture . The next determinative style is the Gothic architecture in Budapest. The few remaining Gothic buildings can be found in the Castle District. Buildings of note are no. 18, 20 and 22 on Országház Street, which date back to

5278-431: The city's subway system, the Budapest Metro , serves 1.27 million, while the Budapest Tram Network serves 1.08 million passengers daily. The central area of Budapest along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has several notable monuments of classical architecture , including the Hungarian Parliament and the Buda Castle . The city also has around 80 geothermal springs ,

5369-608: The city. Contemporary Budapest is divided into 23 districts (Hungarian: kerületek , sg. : kerület ), each with a mayor and municipal government elected separately from the general municipal government. The districts and the general municipal government have constitutionally and legally defined, non-overlapping areas of competence. Each district has a municipally recognized name, some of which correspond to how locals call that area or neighborhood (e.g., Belváros , V. district; Terézváros , VI. district), others which (e.g., Újbuda , XI. district) are neologisms. Street signs display

5460-415: The city. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana , was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles and philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second in size only to the Vatican Library . After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367 ( University of Pécs ), the second one was established in Óbuda in 1395 ( University of Óbuda ). The first Hungarian book

5551-399: The city. These were great examples of Ottoman architecture , which was influenced by Muslims from around the world including Turkish, Iranian, Arabian and to a larger extent, Byzantine architecture as well as Islamic traditions. After the Holy League conquered Budapest, they replaced most of the mosques with churches and minarets were turned into bell towers and cathedral spires. At one point

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5642-447: The co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire , a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I . The city was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Battle of Budapest in 1945, as well as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . Budapest is a global city with strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. Hungary's financial centre , Budapest

5733-468: The column for about 30 years, while in the first two decades he published a new column almost every day. Within a few years after launching his writing career in Israel Kishon became one of the most prominent humorists and satirists in the country. Kishon's extraordinary linguistic inventiveness and flair for creating characters was carried over into his work for the theater. Collections of his humorous writings have appeared in Hebrew and in translation. Among

5824-490: The conflict. All bridges were destroyed by the Germans. The stone lions that have decorated the Chain Bridge since 1852 survived the devastation of the war. Between 20% and 40% of Greater Budapest's 250,000 Jewish inhabitants died through Nazi and Arrow Cross Party , during the German occupation of Hungary , from 1944 to early 1945. Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz rescued tens of thousands of Jews by issuing Swiss protection papers and designating numerous buildings, including

5915-410: The considerably larger Pest spreads out on a flat and featureless sand plain on the river's opposite bank. Pest's terrain rises with a slight eastward gradient, so the easternmost parts of the city lie at the same altitude as Buda's smallest hills, notably Gellért Hill and Castle Hill. The Buda hills consist mainly of limestone and dolomite, the water created speleothems , the most famous ones being

6006-439: The degree to which Jewish identification processes could be contextual, angst-ridden, and laden with contradictory tendencies. The extent to which Hameiri was aware of his struggles regarding notions of 'loyalty,' 'fatherland,' and 'patriotism'...illuminate the complexities of collective identification among Habsburg Jews." Gershon Shaked argues that Hameiri's anti-war stance is rooted in his Judaism. His first book of poetry

6097-440: The dictatorship were removed from public places, into Memento Park . In the first 20 years of the new democracy, the development of the city was managed by its mayor, Gábor Demszky . In October 2019, opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony won the Budapest mayoral election , meaning the first electoral blow for Hungary's nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán since coming to power in 2010. Budapest, strategically placed at

6188-456: The distinct sloping central square in Budapest became a bustling Oriental bazaar, which was filled with "the chatter of camel caravans on their way to Yemen and India". Budapest is in fact one of the few places in the world with functioning original Turkish bathhouses dating back to the 16th century, like Rudas Baths or Király Baths . Budapest is home to the northernmost place where the tomb of influential Islamic Turkish Sufi Dervish, Gül Baba

6279-517: The district and that neighborhood's colloquial name. The latter are often the names of villages that were gradually annexed to the city (e.g., Sashalom , Budafok ) or of superseded administrative units of former boroughs. After the unification of Buda, Pest, and Óbuda in 1873, Budapest initially had 10 districts. It was during the interwar period that Károly Szendy 's 1934-1944 mayoral administration first seriously considered annexing peripheral towns and villages. This only came about, however, after

6370-491: The idea of universal guilt for the Holocaust . He said: “It gives me great satisfaction to see the grandchildren of my executioners queuing up to buy my books.” Until his death in 1979, Friedrich Torberg translated his work into German. Thereafter Kishon did the German translations himself. Kishon was a lifelong chess enthusiast, and took an early interest in chess-playing computers . In 1990, German chess computer manufacturer Hegener & Glaser together with Fidelity produced

6461-438: The largest cities in the European Union , with a growing number of inhabitants, estimated at 1,763,913 in 2019, whereby inward migration exceeds outward migration. These trends are also seen throughout the Budapest metropolitan area , which is home to 3.3 million people. This amounts to about 34% of Hungary's population. In 2014, the city had a population density of 3,314 people/km (8,580 people/sq mi), rendering it

6552-519: The largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue , and third largest Parliament building in the world. Budapest attracts around 12 million international tourists per year, making it a highly popular destination in Europe. The previously separate cities of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were officially unified in 1873 and given the new name Budapest . Before this, the towns together had sometimes been referred to colloquially as "Pest-Buda". Pest

6643-621: The last to be rebuilt, was finished in 1964. In the early 1970s, Budapest Metro 's east–west M2 line was first opened, followed by the M3 line in 1976. In 1987, Buda Castle and the banks of the Danube were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites . Andrássy Avenue (including the Millennium Underground Railway , Hősök tere , and Városliget ) was added to the UNESCO list in 2002. In

6734-466: The most densely populated of all municipalities in Hungary. The population density of Elisabethtown-District VII is 30,989/km (80,260/sq mi), which has the highest population density figure in Hungary and one of the highest in the world . For comparison, the density in Manhattan is 25,846/km . Avigdor Hameiri Avigdor Hameiri ( Hebrew : אביגדור המאירי; September 16, 1890 – April 3, 1970)

6825-476: The most renowned and mighty King Attila descended, who, in the 451st year of Our Lord's birth, coming down from Scythia , entered Pannonia with a mighty force and, putting the Romans to flight, took the realm and made a royal residence for himself beside the Danube above the hot springs, and he ordered all the old buildings that he found there to be restored and he built them in a circular and very strong wall that in

6916-622: The name Franz Kishunt. In 1949 he immigrated to the newly founded state of Israel, together with his first wife Eva (Chawa) Klamer, to escape the Communist regime. When arriving in Israel an immigration officer officially Hebraicized his name to "Ephraim Kishon". According to Kishon, the Jewish Agency clerk asked him for his name and when he answered "Ferenc" the clerk said: There is no such thing, and wrote "Ephraim", and afterwards he went ahead and Hebraicized his family name as well, Kishon being

7007-494: The names "Buda" and "Pest" are obscure. Buda was Linguistically, however, a German origin through the Slavic derivative вода ( voda , water) is not possible, and there is no certainty that a Turkic word really comes from the word buta ~ buda 'branch, twig'. According to a legend recorded in chronicles from the Middle Ages , "Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda , brother of Hunnic ruler Attila . Attila went in

7098-483: The new queen. Today, many of the original renaissance buildings disappeared during the varied history of Buda, but Budapest is still rich in renaissance and neo-renaissance buildings, like the famous Hungarian State Opera House , St. Stephen's Basilica and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences . During the Turkish occupation (1541–1686), Islamic culture flourished in Budapest; multiple mosques and baths were built in

7189-503: The next few years, all of the former Hungarian lands, except areas near Temesvár ( Timișoara ), were taken from the Turks. In the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz , these territorial changes were officially recognized as the end of the rule of the Turks, and in 1718 the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule . The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian struggle for independence and modernisation. The national insurrection against

7280-587: The now famous Glass House (Üvegház) at Vadász Street 29, to be Swiss protected territory. About 3,000 Hungarian Jews found refuge at the Glass House and in a neighboring building. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest by giving them Swedish protection papers and taking them under his consular protection. Wallenberg was abducted by the Russians on 17 January 1945 and never regained freedom. Giorgio Perlasca , an Italian citizen, saved thousands of Hungarian Jews posing as

7371-751: The number of Christians was down to about a thousand, and by 1647 it had fallen to only about seventy. The unoccupied western part of the country became part of the Habsburg monarchy as Royal Hungary . In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda , a renewed campaign was started to enter Buda. This time, the Holy League 's army was twice as large, containing over 74,000 men, including German , Croat , Dutch , Hungarian, English, Spanish, Czech , Italian, French, Burgundian , Danish and Swedish soldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen , and officers. The Christian forces seized Buda, and in

7462-477: The overpopulated rural Transdanubia and Great Hungarian Plain . Between 1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians increased from 35.6% to 85.9%, Hungarian became the dominant language, and German was crowded out. The proportion of Jews peaked in 1900 with 23.6%. Due to the prosperity and the large Jewish community of the city at the start of the 20th century, Budapest was often called the "Jewish Mecca" or "Judapest". Budapest also became an important center for

7553-496: The prohibition named the city as Eccylburg, which means Attila Castle, however, the Hungarians did not care about the ban and call it Óbuda [Old Buda] and call it to this day. The Scythians are certainly an ancient people and the strength of Scythia lies in the east, as we said above. And the first king of Scythia was Magog, son of Japhet, and his people were called Magyars [Hungarians] after their King Magog, from whose royal line

7644-774: The rise of state communism in Hungary . In 1950, for reasons of social and industrial policy—including the Hungarian Working People's Party 's desire to proletarianize the traditionally right-wing suburbs—7 cities with county rights and 16 towns were annexed to the capital to form contemporary Greater Budapest (Hungarian: Nagy-Budapest ). This reorganized the city into 22 districts, a number that grew to 23 after Soroksár seceded from Pesterzsébet in 1994. The contemporary city thus consists of 6 districts in Buda, 16 in Pest, and Csepel . Today, districts I., II., XI., and XII. in Buda and V., VI., VII., VIII., and IX. in Pest make up

7735-468: The two parts of the city is 230 m (755 ft) wide at its narrowest point in Budapest. Pest lies on the flat terrain of the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly. The wide Danube was always fordable at this point because of a small number of islands in the middle of the river. The city has marked topographical contrasts: Buda is built on the higher river terraces and hills of the western side, while

7826-420: The war when he returned to Budapest he discovered that his parents and sister had survived, but many other family members had been murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz . In 1945, he changed his surname from Hoffmann to Kishont and returned to Hungary, where he continued to study art and writing. In 1948 he completed his studies in metal sculpturing and art history and began publishing humorous articles under

7917-538: The Óbuda district within Budapest. The Romans constructed roads, amphitheaters , baths and houses with heated floors in this fortified military camp. The Roman city of Aquincum is the best-conserved of the Roman sites in Hungary . The archaeological site was turned into a museum with indoor and open-air sections. The Magyar tribes led by Árpád , forced out of their original homeland north of Bulgaria by Tsar Simeon after

8008-532: Was a Hungarian-Israeli author. Hameiri was born as Avigdor Menachem Feuerstein in 1890, in the village of Odavidhaza (near Munkatsch ), Carpathian Ruthenia in Austria Hungary . Growing up with his grandfather instilled in him a love for the Hebrew language . Even though the bulk of Hungarian Jewry was still anti-Zionist, he had already developed an admiration for Zionism when he moved to Budapest . He served in

8099-513: Was an anti-Soviet revolt that lasted from 23 October until 11 November. After Nagy had declared that Hungary was to leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral, Soviet tanks and troops entered the country to crush the revolt. Fighting continued until mid November, leaving more than 3000 dead. A monument was erected at the fiftieth anniversary of the revolt in 2006, at the edge of the City Park . Its shape

8190-474: Was declared a communist People's Republic ( People's Republic of Hungary ). The new Communist government considered the buildings like the Buda Castle symbols of the former regime, and during the 1950s the palace was gutted and all the interiors were destroyed (also see Stalin era ). On 23 October 1956 citizens held a large peaceful demonstration in Budapest demanding democratic reform. The demonstrators went to

8281-461: Was printed in Buda in 1473. Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around the year 1500. The Ottomans conquered Buda in 1526, as well as in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541. The Ottoman Rule lasted for more than 150 years. The Ottoman Turks constructed many prominent bathing facilities within the city. Some of the baths that the Turks erected during their rule are still in use 500 years later, including Rudas Baths and Király Baths . By 1547

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