Study in black and white

For a short period of time I owned a nice "4X5" TOYO Field camera, which was a very good tool. However I didn`t have enough time to give the necessary attention to work in big format it. So I sold it after a year already. There are not many photographs left and only very few were made on the Kerepesi Temetö. This is a study in black and white on Polaroid film P/N55. In summer there is always an interesting play between light spots and dark shade on the cemetery,which can add a lot of drama to the many sculptures there. This one has a bit of a hellenistic touch, the tomb of Rubinek Gyula,who must have been a very successfull politician and studied farmer. He was engaged in the hungarian agriculture association and later became a minister of trade. Obviously the sculptures arund the tombstone with a coffin on top symbolise a sowing farmer and two women bringing in the harvest a very positive representation of human life on earth.

The lark of the nation Blaha Lujza

Quite different from the previous tombstone is the atmosphre around the monument for the famous actress Blaha Lujza. The monument is located close to the arcade buildings in the shade of a tree. The actress exhausted from her work seems to sleep or to take a rest under a canopy,while some children and an elder musician seem to wait for her wakeup. For me there was no much sadness at this place but a sense of brightness and hope for a possible comeback after death. Blaha Lujza was a real star during the golden age, the time between 1880 until 1914 when the first world war started. In the 1870s a special popular genre a kind of "farmers musical" had been developed and Blaha Lujza was the celebrated main figure in many of those plays. Her fame was outstanding and she stood not back against the actors of the national theater.

Crossing the river styx ?

 

Deák Ferenc, a great hungarian statesman

 

Anise under acacia trees

On one of my visits I found this interesting sculpture of a mourning women leaning against the tombstone. On the back of the sculpture corrosion had worked over time so much that some holes had developed. The tomb and the sculpture had changed their colors to a siena red which came close to the clor of the acacia trees. When I approached the place I suddenly was mesmerised by a strong scent of anise which grew there in plenty.

The arcade buildings

KORB, Erzsébet

KORB, Erzsébet (1899, Budapest - 1925, Budapest) was a painter and well known for her nudes. Obviously her life was only very short and I wonder what circumstances were responsible. She had survived the first world war as a young girl and her remarkable talent hasn`t had the chance to develop.

Kossuth mausoleum

The cemetery was opened on June 15.,1847 in difficult times shortly before the failed revolution of 1848/49. In 1885 the cemetery became national pantheon open only for important and famous personalities. Lajos Kossuth has become a national symbol for the struggle for freedom and independance of the hungarians during the times of revolution and later. Kossuth had incredible qualities as a speaker and could "set the crowd on fire". After the failed revolution he had to flee first to Turkey,but soon in 1851 he was freed by the frigate "Missisippi". As hero of freedom the ports of Italy, France and Englands were open for him and his arrivals were celebrated like a triumph. His trip through the U.S. from December 1851 til Juli 1852 was unbeaten. On his receptions in New York,Philadelphia and Boston he was celebrated as a new Demosthenes, as the hungarian Washington. Since La Fayette Kosstuh was the first foreigner to be recepted by the senat and the house of representatives. In both houses he made a speech requesting support to gain freedom for hungaria. But his wishes came not true. Over years Kossuth was involved in hungarian politics from an exile position. He tried the utmost to avert the so called "Ausgleich" with Austria. After 45 years living outside of Hungary Kossuth died in Turin,Italy on march 20. 1894. His funeral was a powerful national demonstration.

The monument was designed by Kálmán Gerster with sculptures by Alajos Stróbl. Kossuth`s body was transferred from Turin to Budapest and 400 000 gold crowns were collected to finance the monument. Gerster won the competition and in 1909 the monument in eclectic style was finished. On top of the roof on 8 columns there is a genius and lion which represent the revolution and below there is the sarkophag. The entrance is guarded by 2 leopards. Inside is a famous mosaic by Miksa Róth after a fresco by Dezsö Kolber.

This is a detail of the monument showing the big sitting sculpture by Alajos Stróbl (1856 - 1926). The sitting figur "Hunnia" represents the hungarian people.

Avenues bordered with trees

The total area of the cemetery of about 56 hectares is divided by long avenues into lot/fields in which the tombs are grouped. Lot NO.12 for example is the place were many famous artists are buried. The longest avenues measure more than half a mile. There is a beautiful atmosphere in the deep shade of chestnut, acacia or in the bright atmosphere of a tall poplar avenue.

Observations close to the entrance

Introduction to this blog ( international project-english language)

Almost 15 years ago I did numerous photographs with a double lense Mamyia C 330 at the Kerepesi Temetö,Budapest. At that time I visited Budapest once or twice a year and often stayed over the weekend,which I used for extended sight seeing in the town. I got more and more interested in hungarian history and especially in the architecture of the city Budapest.
Finally one day I stepped into this large cemetery where many of the most important personalities in politics,economy and arts from the so called golden age, end of 19th century and later are buried. I felt as if I was entering a completely different world,not only because the noise of the city was suddenly cut off by high walls. I discovered a park with beautiful avenues and silent paths that lead you through hungarian history since end of the 19th century. Many of the most famous hungarian personalities in politics,economy,science and art are buried in this place. Impressing monuments remind of important statesmen like Kossuth and others. I was so fascinated that I decided to start a kind of photo essay with the intention of later publication, which never happened until now. A good friend Mrs. Erika Bierbaum helped me with translations and in contact to the administration,which kindly allowed the work in exchange of copies of the slides for archival purposes. In the beginning of 1990´s the cemetery was not very well kept. Lots of half wild city cats were living there and the administration didn´t have enough resources to keep all the green in good shape. This contributed to a special atmosphere of decay and past time,which has gone meantime for the most part for good reasons

. 

I expect that it will take at least 6-8 months to digitalise all the slides in my archive. I intend to add once or twice a week new images together with some more information on history of the cemetery and the specific images and subjects. I have joined Imagekind.com (see link bar on the right) to make prints available for those who might want to have a printed copy of the one or other image. I hope you will enjoy this journey in hungarian history and culture. It´s a kind of time travel for me in several ways. Many years I was not able to make use of the work I had done during several years,but I kept the archive hoping that publication would become affordable some time. I gave up photography just about the time when internet came up and of course I didn´t even dream that I could publish and share these images in the way that I do it now.