Tuzkereszt History

Tűzkereszt Photo Story • Budapest Then and Now

Then and Now on Andrássy Avenue

Two wartime photographs from the corner of Bajza utca, revisited more than eighty years later.

Two private photographs preserve a quiet moment shared by a young Hungarian soldier and a woman on Andrássy Avenue in Budapest.

The photographs were taken at two locations only a few metres apart, close to the intersection of Andrássy út and Bajza utca. The street signs visible in the first image make the location identifiable, while the architecture and iron fences in the second photograph provide further points of comparison.

More than eight decades separate these wartime photographs from Budapest today. The people, uniforms, traffic and political world have disappeared, yet much of the physical setting remains unexpectedly familiar.

More than eighty years apart

The surviving façades, garden boundaries, iron fences and tree-lined character of the avenue still allow the old photographs to be connected with their exact locations.

At the Corner of Bajza utca

The first photograph was taken beside the intersection, where the historic street signs for Bajza utca and Andrássy út can be seen behind the couple.

A young Hungarian soldier and a woman photographed at the corner of Andrássy út and Bajza utca. The street signs behind them provide the decisive clue to the location. TŰZKERESZT Archive • Original Private Photograph

The immediate surroundings have naturally changed, but the alignment of the streets and the architectural character of the neighbourhood remain recognisable. Standing at approximately the same point today, it is still possible to understand how the photographer framed the original scene.

Open Location 1 in Google Street View →

The supplied Street View link opens archived Google imagery from November 2011.

A Few Metres Along the Avenue

The second photograph was made only a short distance away, with one of the avenue’s historic residential buildings visible in the background.

The couple photographed again a few metres from the first location. The building behind them now houses the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Hungary. Its façade, garden fence and the roadside trees make it possible to compare the wartime setting with the same view many decades later. TŰZKERESZT Archive • Original Private Photograph

Although details have been altered and the trees have grown or been replaced, the basic architectural composition remains strikingly similar. The building line, fence and proportions of the avenue still echo the setting captured in the original photograph.

This continuity transforms an unidentified private snapshot into something more: a small meeting between personal memory and the surviving city.

Open Location 2 in Google Street View →

The supplied Street View link opens archived Google imagery from January 2012.

The City as a Historical Source

Old private photographs often contain information that was never intentionally recorded. Street signs, gates, façades, trees and small architectural details can survive in the background and, decades later, reveal where a photograph was made.

In this case, the comparison shows both change and continuity. More than eighty years have passed since the couple stood beside Andrássy Avenue, but the surviving buildings still connect their moment with the Budapest of the present day.

Original photographs from the Tűzkereszt Collection.
Historical locations identified through architectural comparison and Google Street View.
© Tűzkereszt Archive. Reproduction or publication requires prior permission.