Gergely Karácsony, using the power of emergency, exiled the statue of the state founder, originally planned for Szent István Park, to Kispest as one of his last individual decisions. With the mayor's decision of June 14, the XIX. district, the statue of the holy king cast in bronze, while the XIII. nothing in the district park indicates it.
The work of sculptor István Harmath was created in the 19th century. they wanted to place it in the axis of the main entrance of the Nagyboldogasszony Church on Templom Square in the district. However, when surveying the site, the sculptor proposed a new location: he proposed setting up his work on a small green island southwest of the church's main entrance. His decision was accepted, and the Budapest Gallery indicated in its resolution that the tourist sign, the electric pole and the fire hydrant should be relocated in the green area, and the green area should be arranged in order to be worthy of the work and the memory of the founder of the state.
Magyar Nemzet previously wrote about the erection of the Saint Stephen statue in the XIIIth century, named after the founder of the state. in the public park on the Danube in the district, the Capital Assembly decided in January 2017. The capital, led by István Tarlós, has decided that the statue of communist politician György Lukács, People's Commissar of the Council Republic, will be demolished in the park, and a public work depicting King Saint István will be erected near the former statue's location.
In 2019, the capital also gave permission to erect the statue.
The left - including Gergely Karácsony and his party, Párbeszéd - protested against the decision as one person, as they believe that Lukács is a great figure in the history of Hungarian and international philosophy.
Based on the decision of the Metropolitan Assembly, the works related to the placement of the bronze statue began in the Szent István park in the fall of 2019, before the municipal elections, but the preparations were immediately suspended as one of the first decisions of the newly elected Metropolitan Assembly, which already has a left-liberal majority.
In his proposal, Mayor Gergely Karácsony referred to the fact that the local "civilians" had initiated it: review the planned location of the statue. Gergely Karácsony put it this way: "The debate is not about whether there will be a statue of St. István in Szent István park, but about how we can reconcile the aspects of memory policy and those formulated by park users."
Gabriella Dódity, leader of the Fidesz-KDNP faction in Kispest, responded to our newspaper at the time: "It is unacceptable for the mayor to be paralyzed by banning the statue of the founder of the state from the Szent István park. It would definitely belong there. In addition, there is already a bust in Kispest, which was neglected by the left-wing city administration".
more interesting details of the article here
In the opening image: this is what the Saint Stephen statue would have looked like in its original location
