History of Buda Castle - Interwar Years and Siege

Interwar Years and Siege

The Hauszmann palace existed for only three decades. On 30 December 1916 the building played a part in the coronation ceremony of the last Hungarian king, Charles IV. After the 1918 revolution, when the Habsburg dynasty was dethroned, the Royal Palace became the seat of the new regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, Miklós Horthy. Horthy lived in the Krisztinaváros wing with his family between 1920 and 1944. In this era the palace was the centre of Hungarian political and social life. The garden parties of the regent were especially fabulous events. Famous guests entertained by Horthy in the palace were King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy in 1937 and Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) in 1938.

On 15 October 1944 Horthy made an attempt to get out of the war. Next day a German commando led by Otto Skorzeny occupied the Royal Palace and forced the regent to abdicate.

Buda Castle was the last major strongpoint of Budapest held by Axis forces (Germans and Hungarians) during the siege of Budapest between 29 December 1944 and 13 February 1945. The defenders of the castle finally attempted to break the Soviet blockade on 11 February, but utterly failed, leaving 90% of the soldiers dead on the sidestreets of Buda. Allegedly the Russians knew about their plans and aimed heavy weapons at the possible escape routes hours earlier. This is considered one of the biggest military catastrophes of Hungarian history.

Heavy fights and artillery fire rendered the palace once again into a heap of ruins. All the furniture disappeared, roofs and vaults collapsed and the southern and western wings burned out. The destruction was only comparable to that of the great siege of 1686.