Revolution'56 Szabadságharcos Söröző, which commemorates the freedom fighters of 1956 and is also known as the club beer bar of PestiSrácok.hu, is closed.
The current operator of R56 was unable to cope with the difficulties associated with the war crisis, but at the same time, he is very confident that with the help of dedicated patrons, he can reopen the place, which boasts a history of more than a hundred years, as a non-profit national club.
The Revolution'56 Szabadságharcos Söröző opened its doors after the beginning of the 20th century on the Bem wharf, at the Buda bridgehead of Margit Bridge, mainly for the sailors of the nearby steamship port and the women waiting for the ship after selling their portage.
The classic pub - where Danube fish was smoked and fried in the lichthof - survived the entire 20th century, and after the regime change, István Stefka and his wife, Kornélia Naszályi, rented it out, and soon the conservative journalists, TV and radio presenters who were evicted and canceled in 1994 , and became a meeting place for the potentates of the nearby MDF headquarters. The beer hall, which was already called Sziget, was decorated with the portraits of the Arad martyrs. Employees of the right-wing press, which gained new strength with Napi Magyarország in November 1997, also liked to be guests here, and it remained so for two thousand years.
The company that maintains R56 was taken over in 2016 by PestiSrácok.hu, the publisher that reigned until last year. Mai was named in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the 1956 revolution and freedom struggle, and during the recordings, after the commemoration on November 4th, the Day of the Immortals, or during the Peace Marches, freedom fighters were also frequent guests, including Mária Wittner, János Corvin Közi freedom fighters, László Trencsényi, András Pongrátz, Róbert Cey-Bert and other revolutionaries. Father Imre Kozma also blessed the club last Christmas, together with the entire PestiSrácok editorial team.
The Polbeat recordings previously recorded in the Kelta Söröző were transferred to the R56 Söröző in 2016, which, thanks to art historian and graphic artist András Szilágyi, received a completely new interior, with street-art atmosphere frescoes recalling the events, supporters and great figures of the 1956 war of independence.
In parallel with the liquidation process of the previous publisher, the owners tried to maintain R56 Söröző as a national-conservative club, and to continue to operate it through the well-known OIKOSZ Foundation, but their plan was hampered by the war crisis and the exhaustion of almost all funding sources of traditional national, civil life.
"Our applications were rejected one after the other, or those available in previous years were not even published. Without resources, the foundation's valuable, public benefit historical memory-shaping and community-building activity has also become uncertain. However, the OIKOSZ Foundation has created many events and works that have moved thousands and tens of thousands in the past decade, from the active organization of the first Peace Procession to the historical festivals for a free country and Model Change '89 at the Pesti Srácok Memorial Park and many other spectacular programs (e.g. Ószöd anniversaries performances) in addition to publishing books (Soros, Ulfkotte, Salvini, Media Háború, etc.) and producing documentaries (People's Commissar of Death, Torn Hungary, etc.) he also excelled on his own strength), wrote the owners, who are confident that they will be able to get patrons again.
