Stop 10 · Buildings Walk
Ungár–Mayer Palace
Kárász utca 16, by Dugonics tér · 1911 · Ede Magyar
Tin girls dance in a ring around its dome. They started building it before the permit came through, and the tenants moved in without one.
Builders Benő Ungár and Áron Mayer had it built as an apartment palace, to plans by Ede Magyar, between 1910 and 1911. The first, approved design was still symmetrical, much like the Gresham Palace in Budapest. Magyar redrew it in the end: asymmetrical, with a tower on the corner.
Its frame is reinforced concrete, a brand-new material at the time. The structural calculations were by Szilárd Zielinski, who had designed Szeged's water tower not long before. The load test was held on 7 April 1911, in front of a curious crowd.
The contractor, Pick and Tóbiás, didn't wait around: they started building before the permit arrived, and people moved into the flats without an occupancy permit too.
The corner dome is held up by a ring of dancing young ladies, holding hands. Tinsmith Mihály Halm made them, and the decorative ironwork was by Antal Kecskeméti. The ground floor had big glass shop windows: first the Corso café, later a Dreher beer hall.
In the 1950s the large flats were split up and the building went downhill. Since its 1999 renovation it has again been one of the finest corners of Dugonics tér.
Open in the app →Animated scene, old photos, stamps and the full map. Free, nothing to install.Facts and labels
- True1910–1911, designed by Ede Magyar, with a reinforced-concrete frame.
- TrueBuilding started before the permit, and tenants moved in without an occupancy permit.
- Half true“Szeged's first reinforced-concrete building.” According to Wikipedia it was the city's first reinforced-concrete house. The concrete water tower had stood since 1904, but that's not a house.
People say
They say that József Attila and Juhász Gyula were both frequent guests at the Corso café on the ground floor of the Ungár-Mayer-palota.
Where it was said: Egy darabka Párizs a Tisza partján (Turista Magazin)