National Theatre (Budapest) - History

History

The idea of a national theatre in the capital was formed around the turn of the 18th-19th century, promoted by several great thinkers, including Ferenc Kazinczy. Baron István Széchenyi, a major figure in the reform age of Hungary dreamed of a great building on the bank of the Danube, operated in the form of a joint stock company. He proposed his plans in his 1832 pamphlet A Magyar Játékszínről.

However, the realization was difficult, as factions could not decide on the basic conception. Some proposed a simpler institution, open for the wide masses, and some wanted a closed, elite institution for the aristocracy.

The Hungarian Parliament made the decision in his 41st article of 1836, and led by Antal Grassalkovich, the construction began in 1835 on the Kerepesi street. With a company assembled in the previous 4 years by András Fáy and Gábor Döbrentei (playing in the Court Theatre of Buda), the theatre opened on August 22, 1837 under the name Pesti Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theatre of Pest). Its goals were to give birth to the national drama, and to showcase classics of world literature. Nationalized in 1840, the name was changed to National Theatre.

While the building was reconstructed in 1875, in 1893 decision was made to build a new, modern theatre. The company moved to the People's Theatre at Blaha Lujza square in 1908, with the reconstruction and development beginning in 1913, but being halted by World War I, never to be finished. The company remained the tenant of People's Theatre in the following decades while the building's state continually deteriorated. Authorities decided to demolish in 1963, citing metro line construction as the reason. Operation ceased one year later, and the building was blown up on April 23, 1965. The company was transferred to the renovated Petőfi Theatre (today known as Thália), in the Nagymező street, and two years later to the former Magyar Theatre in the Hevesi Sándor square. There were times when the National Theatre operated in several buildings at the same time, including the Belvárosi Theatre, the Court Theatre of Buda, and the Magyar Theatre, the latter carrying the name of National Theatre until 1 September 2000.