Budapest különleges szobrai

Besides being a city of beautiful buildings, Budapest has several spectacular and unique sculptures as well. Not only statues of poets, writers or other famous people line the streets, but also statues of characteristic but ordinary people and animals. We’ve picked some interesting ones to show you, but there are more to discover if you walk in Budapest with open eyes.

The Little Princess

The ‘Little Princess’ is a statue of a little girl wearing a crown sitting on the railings of the Danube Promenade with a somewhat dreamy expression on her face. She’s looking at the square and not the Danube behind her. The sculpture was created by sculptor László Marton in 1972. His eldest daughter liked playing in a princess costume and this image inspired him to create the statue. It’s a little-known fact that there is a Little Princess sculpture not only in Budapest but in Tapolca, and in Japan as well, in front of the concert hall of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space. The sculpture is popular with tourists for taking photos of and with.

The Policeman

Standing on the corner of Zrínyi Street and Október 6. Street there is a statue of a policeman supervising the order of his surroundings. He is chubby and jovial and has a big rakish moustache. He’s wearing a uniform characteristic of the period from 1909 to 1945. The sculpture was created by András Illyés and it has been guarding its place since 2008. It was inspired by typical faces of the city, and its physique was formed after the artist’s grandfather. He is also popular with tourists and locals to take a selfie with.

Shoes on the Danube Bank

There is a trail of shoes on the Danube bank about 300 metres south of the Hungarian Parliament and near the Hungarian Academy of Sciences strewn about seemingly randomly without their owners in sight. The memorial was built to honour the 3,500 people who were killed in Budapest by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen during World War II. It represents the shoes of the victims who were shot into the Danube. They were ordered to take off their shoes and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The memorial was sculpted by Gyula Pauer.

A girl with her dog

This statue portrays a girl playing with her dog. The dog is holding a ball in its mouth and the little girl is trying to take it back from it. The statue is located very close to the statue of the ‘Little Princess’, on Vigadó Square. She’s sitting on a bench in the middle of the Promenade. The girl and the dog are so life-like that you might as well sit next to the girl and pat the dog. The sculpture was created by sculptor Dávid Raffay.  An interesting fact about its creator is that he already made up his mind to be a sculptor when he was only 3 years old.

The Wine Salesman

At 2.5 meter tall this bronze sculpture is a prominent figure at Boráros Square near Petőfi Bridge. It is the figure of a fattish man with a bucket in his hand among limestone barrels. Boráros Square was named after János Boráros, a former chief justice of Budapest. Wine salesman is ‘borárus’ in Hungarian which differs from Boráros in only one letter. The sculpture was created by Imre Varga.

The smallest statue of Budapest: a worm with a life belt around its belly

It’s so small that you really have to look out for it if you don’t want to miss the 15 centimetre long statue. It’s on the quay wall of Bem Quay at Halász Street, just opposite the Hungarian Parliament. It’s not an ordinary worm though. He is the Main Worm and a great friend of the Great Fi-Fi-Fi Fisherman from the tale of István Csukás who wrote a tale for children about a Fisherman, who loves to fish, and always gets into interesting adventures. A famous graphic artist,Ferenc Sajdik, drew the pictures for the tale and it has been a favourite of Hungarians for generations.

If you happen to walk by and see the worm don’t forget to stroke its nose as it will bring you luck.

The newest sculpture of Budapest: Carlo Pedersoli alias Bud Spencer

It is a brand-new sculpture of the famous Italian actor, Bud Spencer. It was unveiled on 11^th November in the 8^th district at Corvin Walk, Budapest before a crowd of avid fans. Bud Spencer has been a cultic actor for generations so it’s an honour that Hungary has become the first in the world to erect a full body sculpture to the renowned figure. Sculptor Szandra Tasnádi’s 2.4-metre-high and over 500-kilogram work portrays the bearded actor with a saddle slung over his shoulder. The sculptor re-watched Bud Spencer’s movies for the best portrayal possible during the six-month work process she created the sculpture.

At the unveiling Cristiana Pedersoli, Bud Spencer’s daughter said that the statue reflected the real personality of her father: a big man with a big heart. She added that she was sure that her father was looking down at the statue from heaven.