Remembrance and Revival, Exploring Jewish Budapest

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In this 3-hour walk conducted by our partners Context Travel we’ll look at the vibrant and ongoing history of Jews in Budapest, tracing the development of Jewish culture in the city from the Middle Ages to the present. Our walk will take us through the heart of 19th century Pest, when the city was a major crossroads for intellectuals, artists, and various dynamic immigrant groups across Europe, and thus provides a unique lens for understanding Budapest generally through its Jewish experience. The tour also looks at the re-emergence of the Jewish quarter as the heart of a cosmopolitan and contemporary Budapest.

Most of our time together will be spent in the 7th district, in the heart of Pest—the modern half of Budapest. We’ll begin with a stroll down Andrassy Street, the commercial and financial heart of the city where, at the end of the 19th century Jews fleeing pogroms in northern Europe settled. By 1900 25% of the city was Jewish. We’ll explore the small streets leading off the main boulevard and discover remnants of this period: old silver shops, kosher butchers, prayer houses, and “hidden” synagogues.

Our tour will also grapple with the experience of World War II in Budapest and the persecution of Jews here by the Germans. We’ll trace the course of the walls erected as part of the ghetto where Jews were confined, and also search out remnants of the so-called “yellow star houses” that the Germans used to indicate Jewish residents. In the company of our docent, a historian with expertise in Jewish history, we will discuss the deportation of Jews from Budapest and frame our discussion within the larger context of the Holocaust throughout Europe.

We will also look at the contemporary experience of Jews in Budapest, which today hosts a vibrant Orthodox community, and visit several synagogues, including a masterpiece by the renown Secessionist architect Otto Wagner, and the Dohany Synagogue, or so-called Great Synagogue of Budapest and one of the largest in the world. We'll also visit a ritual bath (mikva) and several kosher shops. Note, Although not included, the Jewish Museum sits nearby, for those interested in exploring this site on their own.

If requested privately and scheduled on either a Friday evening or Saturday morning, it is possible to combine this walk with attendance at services for small groups. Please indicate your interest in this.