Royal Palace of Gödöllő

25 years - Anniversary of the renewed Palace

The Royal Castle of Gödöllő has many services, should mostly convey a sense of life. This is true for exhibitions, it is true for concerts, it is true for programs, but it is also true for a wedding or conference. We would like to make sure that all visitors, regardless of why they came to the Gödöllő castle or its nature-protected park, leave here, so that they certainly tasted the royal feeling of life here, absorbed the Hungarian culture and art. From arrival to departure, every element of the visit that the guest experienced here, be it the washroom, the cloakroom, the exhibition, the concert or a kind word from the people who worked here, was worthy of the Royal Castle. As in all of our lives, so, of course, in the life of the castle, there have been difficult and beautiful, memorable periods in the last 25 years. It is not my intention to summarize the outstanding events in the history of the quarter century now, as there will be appropriate forums for this throughout the year. I would like to highlight just two issues: in 2019, our exhibitions were viewed by 243,000, making us the most visited castle museum in the country, in addition to which we organized more than 300 events. I wish you all the best in 2021! Let's take care of each other! dr. Tamás Ujváry Executive Director

Queen Elizabeth and Gödöllő

Queen Elizabeth and Gödöllő Elisabeth first came to Gödöllő in 1866, at that time for reasons of protocol.. She visited the military hospital in the riding hall of the Palace, where soldiers wounded in the Battle of Königgraz were being cared for. (Her decision to find refuge in Hungary with her children, Rudolph and Gisela, during the Austro-Prussian war drew much attention.) She found the villa rented for her in Buda to be too small, while Buda Castle was too hot in the summer. She longed for a Palace in the countryside and her choice fell on Gödöllő. The Emperor did not wish to buy a Palace, however, appealing to the difficult financial situation because of the war. ‘You can visit the wounded soldiers in Gödöllő if you wish, but do not look at it as if we wanted to buy it, because I do not have any money now. In these hard times we must economise. The Prussians have caused terrible damage to our family estates, too. It will take years to recover. (...) Almost half of the horses must be sold and we will be forced to live very modestly.’ - he wrote to his wife in the August of 1866.

Read