Hungarians give new life to Holy Crown amidst controversy
Opposition parties warn against move
By Andrew Princz

Tens of thousands gathered outside of the Hungarian parliament on the first day of the millennium as the nation's historic Holy Crown, globe, sceptre and sword were ceremoniously transferred in an armoured, bullet-proof van, amidst tight security. Accompanied by a police motorcade, the jewels were transferred from the Hungarian National Museum to the dome hall of the historic buildings of the Hungarian Parliament.

The largely symbolic, controversial move was orchestrated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, fulfilling a desire to elevate the Crown as national symbol from a museum relic to a living icon.

"We have lost lots of things over the centuries," said Orban prior to the ceremony, "but the Holy Crown, the embodiment of the country and national sovereignty, has never been lost."

The crown, which was greeted at Parliament by a military band and trumpeters from high atop the balcony coincided with millennium celebrations as well as the 1,000th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian State. Depicted on today's Hungarian flag, the crown was handed over to Hungary's first Christian King, St. Stephen from Pope Sylvestre II a millennium ago.

Presiding over the January 1 handover was the special parliamentary council made up of the President of the Republic Arpad Goncz, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Speaker of Parliament, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court and the Chairman of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Official guests included Members of Parliament, the leaders of the historic Churches, representatives of Hungarians beyond the borders and members of the diplomatic communities.

"Moving the Crown to Parliament is largely symbolic," Andras Klein, Press Attache of the Prime Ministers office told budapestweek.com during the festivities, "and next year it will likely be moved to the Castle in Buda."

After World War II the Holy Crown left the country and was left guarded in Fort Knox, Texas until 1978 when U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance returned it to a then communist Hungary, returning the precious jewels to the people of Hungary. It has until now been on display at the Hungarian National Museum.

As the doors to Parliament were opened to the public shortly after six in evening, citizens were allowed access to Parliament to view the regalia in its new location. A seemingly ill-prepared parliamentary security force had trouble dealing with the growing numbers of visitors, as crowds pushed and shoved their way towards Parliaments 6th gate, with at least one woman left visibly shook up in the foray.

"The crown is not a jewel or an object to us, but it is a symbol," said high-school teacher Lajos Szasz, who travelled from the outlying city of Sopron to witness the event, "that we have brought it out means that we have released it from some kind of quarantine. It represents the resumption of a system that goes back at least a thousand years."

The move was not, however, unanimously applauded by Parliamentarians. The opposition Socialist Party and the Alliance of Free Democrats maintained that the National Museum as an appropriate location for the symbol.

"The Holy Crown is a symbol of historic Hungary, and is far from today's act of statehood," said Socialist Party MP and former Minister of Justice Pal Vastagh, "the museum was an open place, available for all to view. We approve of the Holy Crown as a symbol, but we simply do not understand the idea of bringing it to Parliament"

On 21 December Parliament voted on a special law relating to the Holy Crown that was passed with 226 votes in favour, 65 against and 61 abstentions. The law commemorated the founding of the Hungarian state by King Saint Stephen in 1000, and also decreed the setting up of a Holy Crown Committee to determine the final place of exhibition for the regalia.

Opposition to the government move came as some MP's felt uneasy adorning the Parliament of a republic with the historic symbol of a Christian kingdom. While representing the statehood and independence of Hungary, some believe that the religious inferences and ties to themonarchic system are in conflict with the development of Hungary in the twenty-first century.

Vocal opponents of the law were the Alliance of Free Democrats, a party that chose not take part in the celebrations at Parliament.

Officials of the Hungarian National Museum put the Holy Crown into the new glass case.
Photo:Bela Szandelszky/PRESSCOM

"We think that the next millennium and the next century," Balint Magyar, President of the Alliance of Free Democrats and former Minister of Culture told budapestweek.com, "belong to the republic and anything which tries, even on a symbolic level, to mix the kingdom and the republic is detrimental to the nation."

The Catholic Church for its part celebrated the the event in its New Year encyclical letter, read in all Catholic churches of Hungary on the first day of 2000. Catholic Bishops emphasised that the Holy Crown of St. Stephen is not a symbol of a form of government, but a symbol of the past, traditions and, "our national values and our identity as Hungarians… [and] intellectual and Christian forces that helped our nation survive for a thousand years." The letter goes on to express assurances of support for ethnic Hungarians living abroad.

The celebrations were broadcast live on television by the nations public service broadcaster as crowds of tens of thousands gathered to witness the event. The national state railways also offered free travel for those attending the ceremony.

Imre Bohm, who came to witness the event from the outlying town of Lovasberenyi lined-up to have a glimpse at the crown in the Dome Hall of Parliament. Over the next two days, fifteen thousand people would view the Holy Crown of St. Stephen in its specially designed protective glass case.

"This is the place for the Crown," commented Bohm on entering Parliament, "better than the National Museum. It is here where the laws are born… and before, in the times of the Kings, the Holy Crown was always around them too. This is the building of the heads of the state, and if the heads of state are here, so this is the place for the Crown too."

The move to Parliament also comes at a time when the Hungarian Government attempts to create a renewed self-image for the country as it enters the new millennium. In early December the senior coalition Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Party took the task upon itself to co-ordinate these efforts.

The Holy Crown is not the only national treasure that the Hungarian Government is seeking to re-appropriate or re-integrate into the national cultural heritage and consciousness. Over the course of the last century, many cultural artefacts were dispersed, lost or stolen, particularly during the Second World War.

The first look of the Hungarian President Arpad Goencz and his wife Zsuzsa Goencz on the Holy Crown in it's new place in the glass case in the Parliament building's central hall.
Photo:Bela Szandelszky/PRESSCOM

In his recent trip to Canada, Prime Minister Viktor Orban personally retrieved the painting "The Wedding of Cana", a masterpiece by Giorgio Vasari, previously owned by the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts. The artwork was smuggled into Canada decades ago, and finally ended up in the collection of a prominent Canadian museum. The Hungarian government has also been pushing for the return of Hungarian art treasures seized by authorities of the ex-Soviet government after World War II.

With the symbolic handing over of the Holy Crown to Parliament, however, Alliance of Free Democrats Balint Magyar accused the Government of using a cultural icon for political aims.

"I think that it is a very bad thing that the Holy Crown, which is a unique monument of our National historic memory is transferred into a tool for daily political gain," commented Magyar to budapestweek.com, "we think that the States task is to serve, and not educate the nation."