Budapest Tunnel Society
The need for a tunnel through Várhegy in Buda was raised as early as 1837 by Dániel Novák, who would not only have bored through Várhegy, but would have also built a tunnel under the Danube. The undertaking could not have been impossible even in the 1830s, as Brunel's tunnel under the Thames, which Dániel Novák wrote about in the Hungarian press, proved. Plans were drawn up in the following years, and in 1841 Jószef Baczó sketched out his idea. The tunnel was needed because the Chain Bridge could only be built in its present location, mainly for technical reasons, but the bridge ran into the Castle Hill. István Széchenyi started to work on the tunnel in 1842, and on 1 December 1845 the Budapest Tunnel Society was founded, with István Széchenyi as its president and Count Emil Dessewffy as its vice-president.
The idea of building the tunnel was raised again by József Ürményi, former vice-chancellor of the Imperial Commission of the Székesfehérvár district from 1849, in 1850, after the opening of the Chain Bridge. He founded a new joint-stock company. The plans would have used the earlier ideas of Adam Clark. Before construction could begin, the military government and Franz Joseph himself had to be convinced that the tunnel would not adversely affect the military defence functions of the Castle. Once the Emperor had been convinced, he not only granted permission, but also gave his support by donating 800 m of gunpowder for the construction, in exchange for the military's free use of the tunnel.
Construction began on 10 February 1853, the plans were initiated by Adam Clark, who was also the leader of the construction. The work started from three directions at once, as Adam Clark had a shaft dug from the Castle, so that the passage could be built from the middle. Of course, the people of Pest-Buda feared that the Váharians would get lost and drill through the hill.
At first, the tunnels were only small cuts, a condition imposed by the Council of Governors in 1845, and enforced by the authorities on the new company to prove that the project was feasible.
Of course, the cuts did not deviate from the directions, the trial cuts having already met on 25 October 1853. The tunnel was finally opened on 30 April 1857, although pedestrians were allowed to use it from 1856.
As the Tunnel was built by a limited company, you had to pay to use it. The whole project was completed in 1858, the total cost was 524 000 forints.
To cover the investment, the company issued shares, on which shareholders received dividends, as well as the repayment of the amount invested, i.e. the shares were to be effectively redeemed over 50 years. Article 9 of the licence document also stipulated that the company was to use one third of its annual surplus over its net income of EUR 5% to repay the capital. The company had originally planned to issue 3 000 shares with a nominal value of HUF 100 each, but 4 200 shares were eventually issued. During construction, the shares did not sell out quickly enough, so József Ürményi and his business partners had to provide a personal loan to continue the work.
The Tunnel Company was granted a 50-year licence on 17 April 1857. Revenues from toll collection increased for the first four decades, but then declined from 1897 onwards with the arrival of tram services bypassing Castle Hill. Pedestrian traffic peaked in 1896, with 2 904 510 people passing through the tunnel that year. After the opening, the toll for pedestrians was 2 kroner and 3 kroner for horses.
The privilege expired in 1907, the Tunnel became the property of the state, but the obligation to pay tolls did not cease, it was only charged together with the bridge tolls on 30 November 1918 by the government of Karolayi. The tunnel was also used for military purposes during the Second World War, with a shelter and command centre on its southern side. During the siege of the city, the western gate was damaged and was rebuilt in a simpler form. The tunnel was restored to its present form in 1973, when it was not only aesthetically renewed, but also the drainage was improved and the ventilation machines were replaced, although they had to be replaced again in 1986.
Throughout its history, the tunnel has been constantly wet and drainage was a constant problem, so much so that until 1873, Conflician passengers were given umbrellas to use when crossing the tunnel. The tunnel also suffered a major flooding incident in 1878. The drainage was repaired in 1915, and in the 1930s an attempt was made to solve the problem by building new drainage passages - in fact parallel to the main tunnel, but much smaller than it.
The original contract expired in 1907. However, a controversial point was that the original contract contained a clause stating that its duration could be extended if the capital invested, i.e. the shares with interest, had not been repaid within the 50 years stipulated. And this was the case, according to the company's accounts for 1906, with the capital being repaid in just under 60 %.
The shares were not only paid out as dividends to the shareholders, but the original capital was also repaid on an ongoing basis, so the idea was that over 50 years the shares would effectively be bought back by the company. The Ministry of Finance offered the capital that if Budapest paid off the outstanding capital debt, nearly 300 000 crowns, it could take over the management of the tunnel, but in the end the capital reneged and the company was taken over by the state, 222 000 crowns were paid to the association and the tunnel was managed by the State Bridges Inspectorate.
A shelter was established next to the Tunnel, south of it during World War II, and was maintained and regularly replenished in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sources
- István Gazda:Days of Széchenyi, Budapest, 1991,
- Széchenyi's Plans of Pest, Edited by Vera Bácskai and Lajos Nagy, Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1985
- The diaries of István Széchenyi.
- Vasárnapi Ujság 27 April 1856.
- Bart Iván (ed.) The Chronicle of Budapest (Corvina)
- István Darvas:The unknown first designers and plans of the Buda Tunnel. in: in Városi Szemle, 1946
- Erzsébet Kócziánné Szentpéteri:Tunnel tolls and tunnel bars120 years of pedestrian traffic in the Buda Tunnel Urban Transport, 1974/3.
- Balázs Szabó The History of the Buda Várhegyi Tunnel 1837-2014 (Sziklakórház Kulturális Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft, Bp, 2014)
- National Government Gazette for Hungary, Volume 8 (1857) Part Two
Date of foundation: 1850
Date of cessation: 1897
Founders: József Ürményi
Securities issued:
| Budapest Tunnel Society |
Determinant drivers are not set
Main activity: the Buda Castle Tunnel
Main products are not set
Seats:
Budapest Tunnel, front building |
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: by Domonkos Csaba
Date of foundation: 1850
Founders: József Ürményi
Determinant drivers are not set
Main activity: the Buda Castle Tunnel
Main products are not set
Seats:
Budapest Tunnel, front building |
Locations are not set
Main milestones are not set
Author: by Domonkos Csaba
Budapest Tunnel Society
The need for a tunnel through Várhegy in Buda was raised as early as 1837 by Dániel Novák, who would not only have bored through Várhegy, but would have also built a tunnel under the Danube. The undertaking could not have been impossible even in the 1830s, as Brunel's tunnel under the Thames, which Dániel Novák wrote about in the Hungarian press, proved. Plans were drawn up in the following years, and in 1841 Jószef Baczó sketched out his idea. The tunnel was needed because the Chain Bridge could only be built in its present location, mainly for technical reasons, but the bridge ran into the Castle Hill. István Széchenyi started to work on the tunnel in 1842, and on 1 December 1845 the Budapest Tunnel Society was founded, with István Széchenyi as its president and Count Emil Dessewffy as its vice-president.
The idea of building the tunnel was raised again by József Ürményi, former vice-chancellor of the Imperial Commission of the Székesfehérvár district from 1849, in 1850, after the opening of the Chain Bridge. He founded a new joint-stock company. The plans would have used the earlier ideas of Adam Clark. Before construction could begin, the military government and Franz Joseph himself had to be convinced that the tunnel would not adversely affect the military defence functions of the Castle. Once the Emperor had been convinced, he not only granted permission, but also gave his support by donating 800 m of gunpowder for the construction, in exchange for the military's free use of the tunnel.
Construction began on 10 February 1853, the plans were initiated by Adam Clark, who was also the leader of the construction. The work started from three directions at once, as Adam Clark had a shaft dug from the Castle, so that the passage could be built from the middle. Of course, the people of Pest-Buda feared that the Váharians would get lost and drill through the hill.
At first, the tunnels were only small cuts, a condition imposed by the Council of Governors in 1845, and enforced by the authorities on the new company to prove that the project was feasible.
Of course, the cuts did not deviate from the directions, the trial cuts having already met on 25 October 1853. The tunnel was finally opened on 30 April 1857, although pedestrians were allowed to use it from 1856.
As the Tunnel was built by a limited company, you had to pay to use it. The whole project was completed in 1858, the total cost was 524 000 forints.
To cover the investment, the company issued shares, on which shareholders received dividends, as well as the repayment of the amount invested, i.e. the shares were to be effectively redeemed over 50 years. Article 9 of the licence document also stipulated that the company was to use one third of its annual surplus over its net income of EUR 5% to repay the capital. The company had originally planned to issue 3 000 shares with a nominal value of HUF 100 each, but 4 200 shares were eventually issued. During construction, the shares did not sell out quickly enough, so József Ürményi and his business partners had to provide a personal loan to continue the work.
The Tunnel Company was granted a 50-year licence on 17 April 1857. Revenues from toll collection increased for the first four decades, but then declined from 1897 onwards with the arrival of tram services bypassing Castle Hill. Pedestrian traffic peaked in 1896, with 2 904 510 people passing through the tunnel that year. After the opening, the toll for pedestrians was 2 kroner and 3 kroner for horses.
The privilege expired in 1907, the Tunnel became the property of the state, but the obligation to pay tolls did not cease, it was only charged together with the bridge tolls on 30 November 1918 by the government of Karolayi. The tunnel was also used for military purposes during the Second World War, with a shelter and command centre on its southern side. During the siege of the city, the western gate was damaged and was rebuilt in a simpler form. The tunnel was restored to its present form in 1973, when it was not only aesthetically renewed, but also the drainage was improved and the ventilation machines were replaced, although they had to be replaced again in 1986.
Throughout its history, the tunnel has been constantly wet and drainage was a constant problem, so much so that until 1873, Conflician passengers were given umbrellas to use when crossing the tunnel. The tunnel also suffered a major flooding incident in 1878. The drainage was repaired in 1915, and in the 1930s an attempt was made to solve the problem by building new drainage passages - in fact parallel to the main tunnel, but much smaller than it.
The original contract expired in 1907. However, a controversial point was that the original contract contained a clause stating that its duration could be extended if the capital invested, i.e. the shares with interest, had not been repaid within the 50 years stipulated. And this was the case, according to the company's accounts for 1906, with the capital being repaid in just under 60 %.
The shares were not only paid out as dividends to the shareholders, but the original capital was also repaid on an ongoing basis, so the idea was that over 50 years the shares would effectively be bought back by the company. The Ministry of Finance offered the capital that if Budapest paid off the outstanding capital debt, nearly 300 000 crowns, it could take over the management of the tunnel, but in the end the capital reneged and the company was taken over by the state, 222 000 crowns were paid to the association and the tunnel was managed by the State Bridges Inspectorate.
A shelter was established next to the Tunnel, south of it during World War II, and was maintained and regularly replenished in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sources
- István Gazda:Days of Széchenyi, Budapest, 1991,
- Széchenyi's Plans of Pest, Edited by Vera Bácskai and Lajos Nagy, Szépirodalmi Könyvkiadó, 1985
- The diaries of István Széchenyi.
- Vasárnapi Ujság 27 April 1856.
- Bart Iván (ed.) The Chronicle of Budapest (Corvina)
- István Darvas:The unknown first designers and plans of the Buda Tunnel. in: in Városi Szemle, 1946
- Erzsébet Kócziánné Szentpéteri:Tunnel tolls and tunnel bars120 years of pedestrian traffic in the Buda Tunnel Urban Transport, 1974/3.
- Balázs Szabó The History of the Buda Várhegyi Tunnel 1837-2014 (Sziklakórház Kulturális Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft, Bp, 2014)
- National Government Gazette for Hungary, Volume 8 (1857) Part Two