In the second half of the 1800s, when Budapest was a booming capital, regular urban planning was not always the case. It took quite a few architects and leaders who considered it important for Budapest to flourish.
Alongside the famous names of Ybl, Hauszmann and Steindl, the city owes Frigyes Podmaniczky an equal debt of gratitude. Novelist Gyula Krúdy called him, with apt simplicity, the ’capital’s bachelor’, who, day and night, like a fevered lover, thought about the development and improvement of his city.
Of course, the capitalists were the most to benefit from this love, thanks not only to the naming and arranging of the roads, the creation of the quays and the development of Budapest’s cultural life, but he must have made their day as Podmaniczky waltzed through town in a chequered jacket, long-toed shoes and his buttonhole festooned with carnations.
The bohemian baron
"At noon, Baron Frigyes appeared on Kerepesi út like a long-awaited Pest phenomenon, whose fellow writers may have forgiven that he had once had success with his novels. Pedestrians, who still knew how to behave on the pavements of Pest, opened the way to the old man with carnations and multi-coloured clothes, a gesture reserved for those unused to insults. The horse-drawn carriage stopped without any special prompting at the intersection of Kerepesi út and Hatvani utca. Baron Frigyes crossed the road with his tiny, never-hurried footsteps. Florists gazed out of their shops, curious about Podmaniczky’s attire,” writes Gyula Krúdy in his book, A Chronicler, in which he dedicates several chapters to Podmaniczky.
Podmaniczky was associated with several legends in his life, and for his bohemian dress, Pest citizens nicknamed him the Chequered Baron or the Colourful Baron and that he had the most accurate pocket watch in Pest, because he arrived everywhere to the second. He is said to have never left the capital because he thought it was best to have a holiday here.
Before making an eternal vow to Budapest, after his university years, like everyone of the day, he went on study trips abroad, touring the cities of Russia, Denmark and Sweden, and describing his experiences in such an engaging style that he won thousands of women’s hearts.
Whatever the size of his fan base, writers such as Kálmán Mikszáth had a different opinion of his output, considering them of little permanent literary value. Writing, by the way, was an escape for him, an attempt to rid himself of the traumas he experienced during the Revolution and War of Independence of 1848-49 and the period that followed. He was a hussar captain and officer in the war of independence but, after laying down his arms, the Austrians demoted him as a punishment and made him a private in the Italian infantry.
In addition to his notes, he also wrote memoirs that brilliantly bring to life all the charms and small-scale problems of the time, as well as secret tales about leading statesmen István Széchenyi and Gyula Andrássy from when Podmaniczky invited them round, Andrássy scaling the Chain Bridge from the Pest side to the first pillar.
The newspapers wrote about him extensively, not only concerning his works, but also about how his activities. Readers knew that at 7am, Podmaniczky would leave his apartment to go to the Petőfi Café for breakfast, before arranging the city's official affairs, after which he would have lunch at the Pannonia Restaurant. They even published that he usually liked to spend his evenings with a cup of cocoa.
The development of Budapest dictated an ever-faster pace, so Podmaniczky suddenly found himself in the middle of all this construction, having been appointed as vice-president of the Budapest Public Works Council. It was the authority that decided on the regulation of the Danube near the capital, the opening of major traffic routes and the construction of new bridges.
He pushed for a general urbanisation plan for the capital, upon which the boulevards and avenues were built, and the Danube embankments of the were arranged. He also managed to finally track down the causes for many infections and had built the city's sewage system. He also realised that one bridge was no longer enough to serve the needs of the rapidly developing capital, so they decided upon three more, Margaret Bridge, Liberty Bridge and Elizabeth Bridge.
As an intendant of the National Theatre, he also played an important role in the development of Budapest's cultural life. Under his leadership, the theatrical world enjoyed its heyday. He advocated for the implementation of modern technology in theatres, managed to finally make it possible for the audience to have a seating area on the ground floor of the theatre. At that time, there was a real cavalcade of genres in the National Theatre Podmaniczky was the one who separated the genres and he also began the construction of the Opera House.
He played a decisive role in the construction of landmarks such as Parliament, the Fishermen's Bastion and the Millennium Monument, and his huge legacy still defines the image of Budapest today.
