Fancy galleries, and Bars attract more and more tourists to the Jewish quarter of the Hungarian capital. The alternative artist scene – unlike Hungary’s Prime Minister – none of closed borders.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Great Synagogue
It is built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish style. The Second world war, they can survive heavy damage, renovation work. Since 1996, the Great synagogue has been restored to its full glory.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Prayer room
The Great synagogue has space for about 3000 believers. It is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world. You can also be toured by tourists, except during the Sabbath, from Friday to Saturday evening.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Tree of life
In the courtyard of the synagogue, the tree of life. It is reminiscent of the some 600,000 Hungarian Holocaust victims. Many of the names are on the leaves of the silver willow. Was created in the sculpture by the artist Imre Varga.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Herzl’s Birthplace
Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism, was born in 1860 in the house next to the synagogue. His goal: an independent Jewish state. Herzl’s house of birth now houses the Budapest Jewish Museum.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Stumbling blocks
Also stumbling blocks to remember the victims of the Holocaust, as here, two men who died as forced laborers. Before the Second world war, about 200,000 Jews in Budapest lived, today there are about 80,000. Budapest has one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
The trendy district of
Behind fragile facades you will find today countless Bars, Clubs and Restaurants that have made the Jewish quarter of Budapest scene and party district.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Ruins bars
Especially the Szimpla Kert, the first of the so-called ‘ ruin bars, is popular with tourists and Locals, and is regularly elected to the Bar-best lists of Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Mazel Tov
Also the Restaurant “Mazel Tov” has opened in 2014 in a ruin. Here it is in comparison to the other Bars is quite high. Offered Israeli fusion kitchen: Shakshuka, Hummus, kebabs, Shawarma and Jerusalem Cheesecake will be on the card.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Street art
Not only are the ruins bars in the Jewish quarter flourish. During a walk one encounters on the street, often large and colorful.
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On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Serene Joy Of Life
The Jewish quarter has not forgotten its dark past, but left far behind. Today it has become probably the most popular district of Budapest.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Great Synagogue
It is built between 1854 and 1859 in the Moorish style. The Second world war, they can survive heavy damage, renovation work. Since 1996, the Great synagogue has been restored to its full glory.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Prayer room
The Great synagogue has space for about 3000 believers. It is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world. You can also be toured by tourists, except during the Sabbath, from Friday to Saturday evening.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Tree of life
In the courtyard of the synagogue, the tree of life. It is reminiscent of the some 600,000 Hungarian Holocaust victims. Many of the names are on the leaves of the silver willow. Was created in the sculpture by the artist Imre Varga.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Herzl’s Birthplace
Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism, was born in 1860 in the house next to the synagogue. His goal: an independent Jewish state. Herzl’s house of birth now houses the Budapest Jewish Museum.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Stumbling blocks
Also stumbling blocks to remember the victims of the Holocaust, as here, two men who died as forced laborers. Before the Second world war, about 200,000 Jews in Budapest lived, today there are about 80,000. Budapest has one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
The trendy district of
Behind fragile facades you will find today countless Bars, Clubs and Restaurants that have made the Jewish quarter of Budapest scene and party district.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Ruins bars
Especially the Szimpla Kert, the first of the so-called ‘ ruin bars, is popular with tourists and Locals, and is regularly elected to the Bar-best lists of Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Mazel Tov
Also the Restaurant “Mazel Tov” has opened in 2014 in a ruin. Here it is in comparison to the other Bars is quite high. Offered Israeli fusion kitchen: Shakshuka, Hummus, kebabs, Shawarma and Jerusalem Cheesecake will be on the card.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Street art
Not only are the ruins bars in the Jewish quarter flourish. During a walk one encounters on the street, often large and colorful.
-
On the road in the Jewish quarter of Budapest
Serene Joy Of Life
The Jewish quarter has not forgotten its dark past, but left far behind. Today it has become probably the most popular district of Budapest.
The phone rings again, Zoltán Jancsó smiles apologetically, and the narrow stairs leading from his gallery to the light of day to be running. His assistant apologized to him: “Zoltan is a very, very busy. And messy”. This is a description of the JAG gallery: Layered Persian rugs, in the middle of the room a table, on which two painters, entertain, painted further back, a woman between half-finished paintings and painting equipment pink tones on a canvas.
Artist Zoltán Jancsó in front of his small gallery in the Kazinczy street
Art meeting at the Kazinczy street
The boundaries between exhibition space, Studio and living room are blurred. On the walls are pictures, without any arrangement: Abstract in addition to landscape painting, in-between time, a woman in a sexy Pose or a portrait of Marilyn Monroe. In the JAG gallery each painting is allowed and issued. 2015 has opened almost alone: zoltán Jancsó rented a former blacksmith’s Studio, quickly tourists and local residents came along. Many looked, some wanted to take part.
In the JAG gallery, each exhibit must
“I felt it,” recalls Jancsó, “this place should be not only a Studio, but a gallery.” His feeling proves him right, the JAG gallery is quickly taken to the popular Art. It is located directly to the small Kazinczy street, one of the busiest in the Jewish quarter.
The Jewish quarter in the course of time
The district is on the rise in the last fifteen years, the scene quarter-trendy cafes and Second Hand Shops will encounter Street Art and dilapidated house facades. It is the charm of the rundown, in the New – shabby chic, if you will.
The district has been living through dark times. Between the age of 18. and 19. Century of the district is Budapest’s Jewish center. In 1859 is inaugurated in the Dohany street Great synagogue. A year later, is born in the house next door, Zionism’s founder, Theodor Herzl. Under the Nazi occupation of the district in 1944 to the Ghetto for about 70,000 Jews.
Many of the old buildings after the war, empty. They decay more and more until the ruins at the beginning of the 2000s, a new lease of life.
The hour of the ruins bars
“We have been looking for old furniture and small movie nights in the courtyard organized,” says Orsolya Liptay of the Ruinenbar Szimpla Kert. 2004 is the first and largest Ruinenbar on power. Meanwhile, more than one and a half million visitors a year. A visit to Szimpla Kert (simple garden) is reminiscent of a journey of discovery à la Alice in Wonderland. Spread over two floors, there are Bars with Craft Beer, Cocktails and hamburgers, a hookah Bar, a stage for concerts, Jam Sessions and Open Mic nights.
Not styled gay bar: the decor in The Szimpla Kert, a color is a happy mess
Striking the sloping means is: A bathtub or an old Trabi for Seating, umbrellas painted Ikea trash can lamp, in a room of old TVs and Radios associated with light chains from the ceiling.
Also the crowd is mixed, young students, tourists, and perpetuate itself with a Sharpie on the walls, but also seniors who come here for a Pálinka (a Hungarian brandy). “I think people like that here not all so is uniform, as in other Bars,” says Orsolya Liptay. “With us, everything is allowed, what other bothers.”
The Szimpla Kert has triggered a Trend that has changed the entire Jewish quarter. In the ruins of that time, today, there are great night clubs (Was Ház), cozy Bars (e.g. Köleves Kert), Mexican street food (e.g. Elláto) or something higher priced Restaurants (e.g., Mazel Tov).
Regional artists to promote
The Szimpla Kert is understood as a cultural meeting place. In addition to folk dance classes, a weekly market and concerts, there are changing art exhibitions, often in collaboration with the JAG gallery of Zoltán Jancsó. The photos are shown in this summer, by the Hungarian photographer and graphic designer Eszter Kazinczy. She has captured the monstrous concrete buildings in Prague: brutalism, the architectural style from the sixties, which is not necessarily true as beautiful.
Photographer Eszter Kazinczy in the Szimpla Kert
“I wanted to show these buildings in a different light,” says Estzer Kazinczy. For the 30-Year-old is the first photo exhibition. Especially the location like that: “Nowhere in Budapest, the cultural scene is more vibrant than in the Jewish quarter.” And then the very personal relation to the place: The Kazinzcy road, at the Szimpla Kert, the JAG gallery and other Hotspots of the district, there are, according to their ancestors Ferenc Kazinczy, a writer of the 18th century. Century, is named.
Tourism boom: a blessing and a curse
As a hip artist and scene quarters the Jewish quarter also attracts many party tourists. This brings money but also has its problems. “The drug trade has increased,” says Orsolya Liptay from the Szimpla Kert, “and there is a lot of rampant stag and hen parties. That’s why we need Security.”
The Ruinenbar Was Ház is one of the trendy night clubs in the Jewish quarter
Artist Zoltán Jancsó is aware of the problems in the district. Nevertheless, Without the tourists crowds, he had opened his JAG gallery, maybe never. For him, it is a good change that is taking place here: “We have become more international, that is a good thing.” In contrast, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the issue of the refugees with the EU on the brink of war: to prevent refugees coming into the country, he has sealed off almost hermetically, and at the border to Serbia, a barbed wire. The Jewish quarter still remains colorful, open, open-minded. “We are not Orbán,” says Zoltán Jancsó.