National Theatre of Budapest
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| Address | Bajor Gizi park 1. |
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| Location | Budapest, Hungary |
| Coordinates | 47°28′15.89″N 19°4′14.04″E / 47.4710806°N 19.0705667°E |
| Type | Theatre, Performing arts center |
| Capacity | 619 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 2002 |
| Opened | (1837) 2002 |
| Website | |
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The National Theatre is the main theatre of Budapest, originally opened in 1837. Its company has used several locations since then, including the original building at Kerepesi Street and the People's Theatre at Blaha Lujza Square, with the longest temporary home being Hevesi Sándor Square. The current home is the National Theatre which opened on 15 March, 2002.
The concept of a national theatre in Budapest was born at the turn of the 18th-19th century, promoted by influential 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 that would operate in the form of a joint-stock company. He proposed his plans in his 1832 pamphlet A Magyar Játékszínről.
However, it was difficult to realize, as factions could not decide on the basic conception. Some proposed a simpler institution, opening for the wide masses, while others wanted a closed, elite institution for the aristocrats.
The Hungarian Parliament made the decision in its 41st article of 1836. Led by Antal Grassalkovich, the construction began in 1835 on 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.
The National Theatre was demolished in the 1900s. The company moved to the People's Theatre at Blaha Lujza Square in 1908. The company was just the tenant of People's Theatre in the following decades while the building's state continually deteriorated. Then in 1963, the authorities decided to demolish it, citing the reason to be metro line construction. 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 Nagymező Street, and two years later to the former Magyar Theatre in Hevesi Sándor Square.
After the demolition of the People's Theatre, a proposal was made to build the new theater in the City Park, at Felvonulási Square. An international contest was held in 1965, but no first place prizes were given. The second prize was shared between the plans of Miklós Hofer and Jan Boguslawski - Bogdan Gniewiewski. The next two decades dragged on with the planning at the Company for Public Building Planning, led by Miklós Hofer. The building permit was finally given in 1985, but the construction work went no further than chopping down a few trees. In 1988 a tender was held for a new location and the Engels (today Erzsébet) Square was chosen. Another decade passed without any progress. In 1996 the Parliament finally agreed to move on to the next phase, but the project became severely entangled with political quarrels for the next few years. After tendering the plans (won by Ferenc Bán), the construction began in 1998, but the new government elected in the same year stopped the work, finding it too costly.
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Wikipedia