Budapest District IX

Name

The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary.

History

The development of Ferencváros began in the late 18th century.

In both 1799 and 1838, many buildings in Ferencváros were destroyed by flooding of the River Danube. Subsequent construction utilized brick and stone instead of mud bricks, thus preventing serious flood damage.

Industrialisation of the district occurred during the second half of the 19th century. During this period, Ferencváros' five mills, slaughterhouse (the largest in Hungary) and Central Market Hall were constructed.

Mixed district: has areas along the Danube (the National Theatre, Müpa, the Palace of Arts are located here, more universities in or close to the area); has a semi-pedestrian street, Ráday utca, with plenty of restaurants, cafes; and the inner areas with many new buildings (see below).

Ferencváros today

Mainly due to recent large-scale housing redevelopment and ensuing gentrification, in the past 15 years former working-class Ferencváros has become one of the most attractive districts of Budapest. It is massively popular with lower-middle to middle class twenty- and thirtysomethings, with property prices to match the hype. As a real two-in-one, it suits the hip and trendy set both for its vibrant urban scene and as a quality place to live. Thanks to the large amount of greenery, especially around the midsection called Central Ferencváros and further to the south, especially in the low-rise Attila József housing estate, the area has healthy outdoor spaces unequalled in central Pest.

Population

The current population is 60,323 (2003 census). Ferencváros has various traditional ethnic minorities represented: most importantly Bulgarians, Germans, Croats, Serbs and Slovaks. The Roma population has been decreasing in the past 10 years as many of them gravitate to neighbouring districts with cheaper accommodation.

Due to the large universities located in the district (Corvinus, Semmelweis) and some more in the vicinity (Budapest University of Technology and Economics), a recent trend is the influx of foreign students of German (Semmelweis University of Medicine), Arabic, Pakistani (working in IT), Indian (working in IT), Norwegian (Semmelweis University of Medicine) and African backgrounds who rent apartments alongside Hungarian students coming from the countryside. Small Chinese and Vietnamese enterprises have also cropped up: these are mostly fast food bars and second-hand clothes shops. The Turks are also represented through their kebab houses.

Areas

Inner Ferencváros

Traditionally, Belső (=Inner) Ferencváros has always been the wealthiest part of the district, with well-preserved apartment blocks dating back to the late 19th century and even earlier. In stark contrast to its bourgeois past, these days Ráday utca, the main artery of "publand" Ferencváros, has a bohemian, youthful atmosphere. The concentration of well over 50 entertainment establishments (pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants, art galleries, culture institutes, open-air concert venue) along a stretch of barely more than 1.3 kilometres is one of the densest in Budapest, the environs of Liszt Ferenc tér being a major competitor.

Ráday utca is also known as "Kultutca", with book shows and arts festivals every spring and autumn and a summer opera festival in June.

On the Danube riverside, one can find a mixed picture. Together with its fin-de-siecle main campus building still dominating the area south of the bridgehead of Szabadság híd (former Ferencz József híd), the new high-tech wing of the Corvinus University is also a major architectural landmark of the area. Behind is Vásárcsarnok, the Central Market Hall, whose upper souvenir floor can get overfull of tourists in peak season. However, by its side, Leaving the university campus behind, is the Közraktárak, "Public Warehouses", which are earmarked for redevelopment. To the south, Nehru Park provides green space for residents.

The southernmost strip of Nagykörút, the "Grand Boulevard", is here called Ferenc körút. Starting off from Petőfi híd's bridgehead at Boráros tér, it descends towards Mester utca, and continues up to Üllői út, which forms the boundary between Ferencváros and District VIII, called Józsefváros. Although this stretch has houses with equal grandeur to those on more northern Teréz Körút and Szent István körút, the vast majority have less friezework and fewer storeys. This boulevard, a major thoroughfare with tramlines (trams 4 and 6, now served by Combino trams) in the middle, is also fast becoming dominated by eateries, partly due to its proximity to Ráday utca and to some open-air music venues on the nearby Buda bridgehead of Petőfi híd.

Central Ferencváros

This traditionally working-class dominated part of the district is most famous for its still ongoing successful redevelopment projects.

Until the Industrial Revolution, the place had been dominated by small farms and gardens, which is also reflected in some of the street names (Bokréta utca, Viola utca). Living in one-storey houses along streets leading in between plots of gardens, at that time artisans dominated the social landscape (whence the street name Mester utca). In the second half of the 19th century, two important changes shaped the social set-up of the area. First, the traffic of ships with wheat and other grain cargo grew rapidly. These ships hailed to huge riverside mills. Besides, various slaughterhouses were established in the southern part of this area. On this account, Ferencváros was aptly called "the stomach of Budapest". Secondly, numerous factories were placed strategically along the railway tracks of the huge freight railways station Ferencváros and on the bank of the Danube, leading also to nearby ship docks on Csepel island. For the workforce needed for such industries as rubber tyre and chemicals, a dense array of 2-4-storey apartment blocks were built north to the brown fields. The industrial heritage is still visible: numerous museums and public venues in converted industrial buildings (Trafó, whose name derives from "transformer station", Közraktárak, meaning warehouses, Borjúvágóhíd, meaning "calf slaughterhouse", Gizella Malom, a mill, and others.) and some typical building projects for the workers (the Danube end of Haller utca, Gát utca) are still present in the area. The rehabilitation projects left most of the residential blocks intact as new houses were built only on empty plots or as annexes. At the same time, the typical backyards system was eliminated, as into the spaces cleared from backhouses there came lavish greenery and secluded recreational facilities.

Just like Ráday utca, the main street of Central Ferencváros, plane-lined Mester utca, roughly follows the bend of the Danube. It is often called a "village" in itself by the residents. In fact, Mester utca has the best prospects to become the southern extension of Ráday utca. Mester utca has various guises along its way, too. Its inner, busiest stretch is from Ferenc körút to Haller utca, with Szent Vince templom as a landmark at this point. In contrast, its midsection, from Haller utca to Könyves Kálmán körút, is quieter and even greener past Haller park. Finally, its outermost stretch goes well into brownfield in Outer Ferencváros. Architecturewise, the street is interspersed with red/klinker brick buildings both of early 20th century Danish and of the late functionalist type. New residential buildings and two office blocks have sprung up in the past 10 years while redecoration has also been a prominent feature.

Outer Ferencváros

South of the green belt of the district lies brownfield Ferencváros. Könyves Kálmán körút, a ring road, has seen a surge in office blocks building. Besides the various office blocks and a shopping mall, one can find the Ferencváros TC football stadium, the brand new national bus terminal and the train stop Ferencváros on the western railways. On the Danube shore lies the National Athletics Centre.

On the shore of the Ráckevei-Danube branch lies the abandoned food market called Nagyvásártelep. This is the area of a planned development of student housing. South of it lies the Soroksári út Marshalling Yard on Rail line 150. Three radial roads pass across Outer Ferencváros: Soroksári út (inner section of Road 5), Gyáli út (entrance to M5 motorway), and Üllői út (inner section of Road 4) forming its eastern border. Partially abandoned industrial areas lie between Soroksári and Gyáli út, with the large Ferencváros Marshalling Yard, and some low density housing estates. Between Gyáli and Üllői út lies a major panel housing complex, József Attila-lakótelep. To its south, Kiserdő ("Little Forest") park borders it to Wekerletelep in District XIX.

Football

Ferencváros is home to Hungary's most successful football club, Ferencvárosi Torna Club.

Parish Church

The Parish Church of St. Francis of Assisi was built by Miklós Ybl in French Roman style. It is decorated with wall-paintings by famous artists, such as Mór Than and Károly Lotz, and statues by Alajos Stróbl.

Sights

Calvinist Church at Kálvin tér

Corvinus University of Budapest

Museum of Applied Arts

Zwack Unicum Museum and Visitor Centre (Dandár u. 1)

National Theatre

Palace of Arts, including the National Concert Hall.

Central Market Hall

Politics

The current mayor of IX. District of Budapest is Krisztina Baranyi (Independent).

The District Assembly, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 18 members (1 Mayor, 12 Individual constituencies MEPs and 5 Compensation List MEPs) divided into this political parties and alliances:

Twin towns – sister cities

Ferencváros is twinned with:

Berehove, Ukraine

Kanjiža, Serbia

Kráľovský Chlmec, Slovakia

Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania