While this is a school year like no other, some things never change – September means back to school. In this selection of old photographs sourced from the open public archive Fortepan, we mark the new school year with a look at how Budapest children went back to school over the last 120 years.
Pupils at the elementary girls’ school on down-at-heel Rigó utca in District VIII, with their teacher in the middle. How many of these young ladies dressed in frilly outfits made it to higher education?
At the former Erzsébet Girls Grammar School where today's Blanka Teleki School now stands, physical development was taken seriously.
Teachers at the State Folk Elementary School on Árpád út in Újpest, start the school year in 1909, almost the last year of peace and prosperity in Budapest.
The little pupils of Tomori utca School at the 1915 Carnival, possibly a charity performance.
Birds and Trees Day, a group photo of participants in 1924, before the Great Depression.
Class photo from 1927, the German Imperial School on Damjanich utca – already co-ed.
Scouts’ display at the Cistercian St Imre Secondary School in Buda, 1939.
A new start in every respect – the first little girl at the door of the Marczibányi tér Primary School in September 1945.
Scouts at the Cistercian St Imre Secondary School in Buda, 1946.
Gymnastics class in the communal courtyard of the Budapest Municipal Primary School, 1949.
Schoolchildren on Hungária körút, 1949.
Opening of the school year in 1951 at Lovag utca Primary School, the scars of war still visible.
Santa comes to Lajos utca Primary School in District II, 1958.
Elementary school students in bib shorts at ELTE Apáczai Csere János School, 1960.
School report being presented, 1960.
The dreaded rope climbing – József Eötvös Secondary School, 1969 .
School break and amateur photography at Attila József Secondary School, 1976.
One of the last school restarts for everybody’s comrade – Socialist leader János Kádár at today's Gyula Hegedűs Primary School, 1985.
It could almost be an album cover – Margit Kaffka Secondary School on Villányi út, 1989.
