The concept of a national theatre in Budapest was born at the turn of the 18th-19th century, promoted by influential thinkers including
Ferenc Kazinczy and Baron
István Széchenyi. Széchenyi was a major figure in Hungary's reform. He dreamed of a great building on the bank of the
Danube that would operate in the form of a joint-stock company. He proposed his plans in his 1832 pamphlet,
A Magyar Játékszínről. The
Hungarian Parliament made the decision to move forward with a national theatre in its 41st article of 1836. Led by
Antal Grassalkovich, construction began in 1835 on Kerepesi Street. With a company assembled in the previous four years by András Fáy and Gábor Döbrentei (playing in the
Court Theatre of Buda), the theatre opened on August 22, 1837, under the name
Pesti Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theatre of Pest). Its goals were to give birth to the national drama and to showcase classics of world literature. Nationalized in 1840, the name was changed to the National Theatre, which it still holds today. The National Theatre building was demolished in the 1900s. The company moved to the ''People's Theatre
at Blaha Lujza Square in 1908. In the following decades, the company was only a tenant of People's Theatre'', and the building's state continually deteriorated. In 1963, authorities decided to demolish it, citing metro line construction as the reasoning. Operation ceased one year later, and the building was demolished on April 23, 1965. The company transferred to the renovated
Petőfi Theatre (today is known as Thália), in Nagymező Street. Two years later, it relocated again to the former
Magyar Theatre in Hevesi Sándor Square. After the demolition of the ''People's Theatre,'' a proposal was made to build the new theater in the
City Park, at Felvonulási Square. An international design contest for the new theatre was held in 1965. No first place prize was awarded, and instead the second place prize was shared between the plans of Miklós Hofer and Jan Bogusławski - Bohdan Golebiewski. The planning, led by Hofer, stretched on for the better part of two decades. The building permit was finally granted in 1985, but the construction work went no further than chopping down a few trees. In 1988, a tender was held for a new location and Engels Square (today Erzsébet Square) was chosen. Another decade passed without any progress. In 1996, Parliament agreed to move on to the next phase. However, the project was delayed again due to political quarrels over the next several years. The project resumed again with architect
Ferenc Bán being declared the winner, but the
newly elected government stopped the work, finding it too costly. In 1999, ministry commissioner György Schwajda commissioned
Mária Siklós to make plans for a building at a new location Essenza, the bank of the Danube. This decision was met with anger from the Hungarian architect community, and a bid was held. György Vadász's won the bid. He did not modify Siklós's plans further, and construction began with Siklós's plans on September 14, 2000. The new National Theatre opened on March 15, 2002, Hungary's
National Day. ==The New National Theatre==