Spacious Heroes’ Square on the western edge of the Városliget woods forms the imposing finale for Andrássy út
The occasion for creating a monumental memorial for the heroes of Hungarian history was the celebration of the 1896 millennium jubilee. The architect Albert Schickedanz and the sculptor György Zala were entrusted with the design of the square. Schickedanz also designed the two monumental buildings flanking the square: the Museum of Fine Artsand the Palace of Art. Heroes’ Square was only completed in 1927, three decades after building began.Over the past hundred years, Hösök tere has again and again been a stage for decisive moments in Hungarian history. During the 1918–19 revolution, the sculpture of Emperor Franz Joseph was smashed as a symbol for the break with the Habsburgs, the entire square draped with red cloth, and the statues of Árpád replaced with a sculpture of Marx and a monument to workers and farmers. Hösök tere was also repeatedly the stage for political demonstrations after 1945, as well as in 1989, when Imre Nagy and his companions were posthumously rehabilitated in a solemn ceremony of state.
