Submitted by Nicole Kennedy on the 2022 winter session program in Hungary sponsored by the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration…
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is often referred to as the Queen of the Danube River. The House of Parliament (Országház in Hungarian) certainly makes the city worthy of this moniker. On my second day, we took a tour of the beautiful building and learned about the importance of land loss in Hungary as well as the role of the Catholic Church. One of the first things that the tour guide shared with our group was that the impressive structure was built for a country that was three times larger than modern-day Hungary. This comment remained at the forefront of my mind during the rest of the tour, and by the time that we reached the museum at the end, I was not surprised to find that it featured a map which overlaid the furthest reaching historical boundaries of Hungary with the current (much smaller) border. A few days later, a guest lecturer from the Social Sciences Institute at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was able to elaborate on the way changes in borders have impacted various ethnic groups in and around Hungary. During the tour, the guide also mentioned that the Parliament building is intentionally the same height as St. Stephen’s Basilica (Szent István Bazilika), making these the two tallest buildings in the country. The symbolic balance of power between the state and church was altered during the communist era, when a red star was placed on top of Parliament, making it taller than the Basilica. Other features of the Parliament building, besides its height, also illustrated the importance of the Catholic Church in Hungary. Prominent artwork on the ceiling featured the Pope handing the King of Hungary the Holy Crown, which has been used to crown all of Hungary’s Kings and one Queen. Furthermore, one of the rooms contained statues symbolizing the four branches of science, and theology was one of them. This history of land-loss and church-presence is still relevant today. At the end of the tour, I was able to conclude that this history factors into Hungary’s unique position as a country with conservative leadership in the European Union. I am excited to continue studying comparative politics and learning more about Hungary this winter.
