Hungarian Forces

BUDAPEST SIEGE: The Destruction of a Grand City

Visitors before the war often considered Budapest as one of the beautiful cities of the world. But the siege seriously damaged not only some of the famous public buildings, like the ornate Royal Palace and the neo-Gothic, spired house of parliament, but also destroyed or seriously damaged about 1/3 of the all other structures, like apartment houses and private villas. All of the Danube bridges were in ruins and most of the numerous factories had been seriously disrupted. The human suffering and casualties were also unprecedented for the city as well, a subject that deserves separate treatment later. Above is a photo showing retail stores burning on a major thoroughfare, as some people try to carry on with daily activities. The rebuilding is still less than complete today, almost seven decades later. (Of course, the Revolution of 1956 left a few pockmarks as well.)