Acta Historiae Artium Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Volume/Issue:
Volume 48: Issue 1
Historical revivalism in hungarian country house gardens between 1880 and 1930: An exploration and analysis
Author:
Gábor Alföldy garden historian, Budapest, Krecsányi u. 5, H-1025 Hungary

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Pages:
115–189
Online Publication Date:
01 Oct 2007
Publication Date:
01 Oct 2007
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/ahista.48.2007.1.3
Keywords:
Hungary; Historicism (Historical Revivalism) in Garden Design; late 19th century; early 20th century; analysis and examples
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Available only in print. Until 2020, Acta Historiae Artium was published in print only, with basic information on its contents accessible on the website. Online articles have been available since Volume 62 (2021).

The period lasting from the Compromise betweeen Austria and Hungary in 1867 to World War I was a ‘golden age’ of Hungarian horticulture and garden art. Country houses with their parks belonged traditionally to the way of living of the aristocracy. The ‘construction boom’ generated by a fruitful interplay of the favourable economic conditions of the ‘Gründerzeit’ and the related social needs and financial abilities, resulted in a multitude of new gardens. This surge of development almost coincided with the spread of historical revivalism in garden design from the 1860s and with an increasing role played by Hungarian creators of gardens in addition to foreign specialists who settled or were invited to work here.

The period between the two World Wars did not effect a fatal break in this garden culture. In some cases, this slowly consolidating period brought real efflorescence (e.g. Hatvan, Röjtökmuzsaj, Szeleste), though these places were the exceptions. The construction and transformation of parks together with the modernization of houses continued in the interwar decades (e.g. Dég, Röjtökmuzsaj) and considerable new establishments were also created (e.g. Vajta, Csorvás, Selyp).

The country house gardens of historical revivalism, with their spectacular parterres, avenues, exotic plant rarities grown in the greenhouses or nursery gardens and transferred to the pleasure-grounds or shown at exhibitions, with their sports facilities and family mausoleums represented the prestige of the aristocracy which still clearly played the leading role in politics and society despite their declining economic and cultural influence. Alternatively they expressed the ambition of a new plutocracy to acquire social legitimation for their wealth. In a few cases and in both groups, there was something else: the garden became the site and instrument through which they could achieve accomplishment by means of creative activity.

The present study is a first attempt at summarising the partial results of research that in its initial phase on the topic. It describes 12 sites in detail, 9 from the period between 1880 and World War I, and 3 from the 1920–30s. After the descripions it gives a preliminary overview of tendences and characteristics of the examined period including the transformation of the landscape garden, revivalist structural elements, follies and utilitarian garden structures, statuary and other garden ornaments, landscape gardeners and creative owners, mainteneance and productive gardening, with a lot of further examples and personalities. Finally, a brief outlook closes the study to the post-1945 survival of the gardens described and historical revivalism in garden art in general.

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Cover Acta Historiae Artium Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Acta Historiae Artium Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Print ISSN:
0001-5830
Online ISSN:
1588-2608

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Editor-in-Chief: Lővei, Pál

Editorial Board

  • Lővei, Pál (Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont, Művészettörténeti Intézet)
  • Bodnár, Szilvia (Szépművészeti Múzeum)
  • Boreczky, Anna (Országos Széchényi Könyvtár)
  • Sisa, József (Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont, Művészettörténeti Intézet)
  • Takács, Imre (ELTE BTK Művészettörténeti Intézet)
  • Wetter, Evelin (Abegg-Stiftung)

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Acta Historiae Artium
Language English
French
German
Italian
Size A4
Year of
Foundation		 1953
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 1
Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia   
Founder's
Address		 H-1051 Budapest, Hungary, Széchenyi István tér 9.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 0001-5830 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2608 (Online)

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REVIEW

HELMUT PHILIPP RIEDL: ANTIVEDUTO DELLA GRAMMATICA (1570/71–1626). LEBEN UND WERK München–Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1998, 241 S., 8 Farbtafeln, 135 Schwarz-weiß Abbildungen

Author:
ÉVA NYERGES