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Hungary To Regain Historical 'Marine House'
US
EMBASSY DENIES POLITICAL ALLEGATIONS ON 'TANCSICS PRISON COMPLEX'
By Andras M. Badics
Hungary is to recover its historical building,
usually dubbed the 'Tancsics Prison' by Hungarians and 'Marine
House' by Americans,
after a recent parliamentary decision that confirms the exchange
of the edifice for two Hungarian buildings. The deal closes decades
of negotiations between the US and Hungary, on a building that
is a historical heritage of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
The
decision comes after a September agreement between US Ambassador
April H. Foley and Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz.
In it, the Tancsics Prison is to be given to Hungary along with
two other buildings, a currently empty villa at Bela Kiraly
ut
1-3, and a diplomatic residence at Szechenyi rakpart 12, worth
a total of HUF 6 billion (USD 34 million). In exchange, Hungary
is obliged to hand over two buildings adjacent to the current
US Embassy at Szabadsag Ter 10 and 11, valued at HUF 3.7 billion
(USD 21 million), and perform renovations costing up to HUF
3 billion (USD 17 million).
Before the second World War, the Tancsics
Prison served as the traditional residence of the Hungarian
Ministry of Finance, but
from 1948, it was allegedly handed over to the US Embassy as
'post-war compensation,' according to Hungarian press sources.
US Embassy Spokesperson Jan Krc denied the allegations. "Contrary
to the rumor that this was some sort of an uncompensated 'postwar
takeover,' it was actually legally acquired as a regular real
estate purchase from the Hungarian government on January 10,
1948, for $65,000," he said in a release.
In a recent
report by Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet, Castle District
Mayor Gabor Nagy was reported to have claimed that a
luxury apartment complex will be constructed in place of the
original Tancsics Prison building. "We must prevent the
squandering of this sacred building with widespread national
protest," he told Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet. Nagy
said he received information about arrangements with property
investors
to build such a hotel on an area worth many times the value
it was exchanged for. This, he says, is due to the fact that
its
value was determined as a 'historic monument,' and not as commercial
property. Government officials denied the allegations, saying
the structure will most likely house museums, exhibitions or
other public "services."
According to Tamas Mezo,
President of the Hungarian Cultural Heritage Office, the
possibility of the apartment complex cannot
be ruled out.
"However, such uses for the building do not
conflict with cultural heritage protection regulations, if the
building is properly
taken care of," he told Diplomacy and Trade. "Although
nobody knows what the building's exact function will be."
The
Tancsics Prison was built in 1810, and imprisoned several
heroes of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. They included Mihaly
Tancsics and Lajos Kossuth, who was widely honored in his time,
both in the US and the UK, as a political activist and freedom
fighter. The Prison is also commonly referred to as the 'Hungarian
Bastille' in the US, as in its time, Hungarians partisans stormed
the building to free the Revolution's political prisoners.
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