Memento Park

After the fall of the Communist regime in Hungary in 1989, many of the Communist statues and monuments were immediately removed. These formed the basis for the current collection of statues in the park. On June 29, 1993, the second anniversary of the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Hungarian territory, the park celebrated a grand opening as a public outdoor museum.

In 2006, a life-sized copy of the tribune of the Stalin Monument in Budapest was built in the Statue Park with the broken bronze shoes on top of the pedestal.[2] This is not an accurate copy of the original but only an artistic recreation by Ákos Eleőd.

In 2007, a new exhibition hall and a small movie theater were opened in the Witness Square of Memento Park. The photo exhibition called "Stalin's Boots" in the exhibition hall takes the viewer through the history of the 1956 revolution, of the political changes of 1989–1990 and of Memento Park, with both English and Hungarian captions. In the barracks-theater one can see The Life of an Agent, a documentary on the methods used by the secret police, directed by Gábor Zsigmond Papp. The film is shown in Hungarian with English subtitles.[3]

Memento Park, beyond its role as a tourist attraction, also functions as a cultural and educational site housing art projects, festivals, professional and public events. There are Retro Festivals, Film Festivals, and several cultural programs. To the youngest visitors, there is a museum-education program that sheds light on the exhibits and helps students to process what they learn. The park is a popular site for tourists. It is accessible by public transportation as well as a direct bus from Deák Ferenc tér.[2]

The park is open every day from 10:00am until sunset. Public bus transport to Memento Park is available from Kelenföld vasútállomás (railway/metro station) with buses no. 101 and 150 to Budatétény vasútállomás/Memento park.

Kelenföld railway station (Kelenföld pályaudvar) is at the end of Metro No. 4 and can be accessed from the following metro stations:

From the Pest side:

• Keleti pályaudvar (Keleti Railway Station, Metro No. 4)
• Rákóczi tér (the Grand Boulevard, trams No. 4 and 6)
• Kálvin tér (Hungarian National Museum, trams No. 47 and 49, Metro No. 4)
• Fővám tér (the Great Market Hall, tram No. 2)

From the Buda side:

• Gellért tér (Gellért Baths, trams No. 18, 19, 41)
• Móricz Zsigmond körtér (tram No. 61 from Széll Kálmán tér)
• Újbuda Központ

Tickets cost 1,500 HUF or 1,000 HUF students with ISIC. Discounts are available with the Budapest Card.[4]

• The Chiang Kai-shek Statues in Taiwan
• Fallen Monument Park, the Russian equivalent.
• Grūtas Park, in Lithuania, known colloquially as "Stalin World"
• List of Sculpture Parks
• Memento Park: A Novel by Mark Sarvas

Media related to Memento Park at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• A Sentence on Tyranny – Photographic images of the re-presentation of Soviet-era statues at Szobor Park in Budapest, Hungary An Exhibition in Wellington, New Zealand (2006).