Lechner and Hungarian Art Nouveau

About Lechner and Hungarian Art Nouveau

By the ULTIMATE Budapest Editorial Team

Around 1900, Budapest was one of the capitals of Art Nouveau, called szecesszió in Hungary. Its great architect, Ödön Lechner, set out to create a Hungarian national style, mixing folk motifs and Eastern ornament with shining Zsolnay ceramic tiles.

A Hungarian style

Ödön Lechner believed Hungary needed its own architecture. He looked to folk embroidery and the art of the East, and worked with the Zsolnay factory in Pécs, whose frost-proof glazed tiles let him cover roofs and facades in colour.

The Museum of Applied Arts

His masterpiece, the Museum of Applied Arts on Üllői út, opened in 1896 with a green-and-gold tiled roof and a dazzling white interior. The building has been closed for renovation since 2017; check before you go for exhibitions and occasional open days.

Lechner’s roofs shimmer with ceramic tiles that never fade.

The Postal Savings Bank

Lechner’s former Postal Savings Bank, near Liberty Square, has a wildly ornamented roof of yellow tiles, where ceramic bees climb towards the hives on the gables, a symbol of saving. The facade can be admired from the street.

Art Nouveau everywhere

Art Nouveau is all over Budapest: the Gresham Palace at the Chain Bridge, the Gellért Baths, the Liszt Academy, the elephant house at the zoo and the Párisi Udvar arcade.

Our advice: walk from the Gresham Palace to the Postal Savings Bank and Liberty Square, then visit the Liszt Academy’s foyer and the Párisi Udvar arcade. Look up: the best details are on the roofs.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Lechner and Hungarian Art Nouveau before you go.