Budapest went through a huge development in the last third of the 19th century. The settlement, which was established after the merger of the three cities of Pest, Buda and Újbuda in 1873, had almost 300,000 inhabitants, and by 1910 it had become an elegant, truly European metropolis with approximately one million inhabitants. The structure of the city developed over these years; all the public buildings and bridges were built, which determine Budapest's city image today.

As opposed to the obvious and almost continuous development, optimistic attitude and faith in progress of the turn of the 19th and 20th century, the period between the two world wars has had a serious effect on Budapest’s life: it took years to recover from the damage caused by World War I and the two revolutions.

However, in these years it became apparent that the amazing development of the period after the merger of the three city parts had resulted in a modern, strong and European city with artistically valuable areas and city structures, which could be also developed despite their shortcomings, with a well-functioning infrastructure and with the essential characteristic of a big city - the unique taste of its life, which cannot be confused with anything else.

By the end of the 1920’s the capital seemed to bloom again. It became a popular target city of international tourism due to its baths, always crowded cafés, restaurants, cabarets, bustling cultural life, elegant stores and luxurious hotels. For the nation and the country, which had lost two thirds of its territory and half of its population after the war, the capital became the symbol of vitality.

The city’s image, which had been created at the turn of the century in style that created a sense of history, did not change significantly between the two world wars. Durable buildings were created in an international structural style in the districts of the city, which were being developed at that time: Újlipótváros, Lágymányos and the villa quarter of Buda. The image of the streets, however, was significantly changed: modern vehicles – trams, buses and cars – appeared in great numbers, public areas were lit with electronic lights, neon signs advertised various products, new forms of trade and restaurants appeared, department stores opened, and cafés, bars and fast food restaurants became more and more widespread.

Compared to other European cities, the close co-existence of different lifestyles gives Budapest a unique colour: certain external features of feudalism, which are still characteristic, and the differences between the lifestyles of the genteel middle class, public officials, the modern bourgeois layer of the city and the working class – and also the extreme poverty of those living on the edge of society.

But the history of Buda, the new buildings in Pest, the flickering gas lamps, neon lights, Hungarian songs, jazz, bobbed hair and pigtails are equally important components of the city's atmosphere. At our exhibition you can take a glimpse at a barber’s, a café, a department store and a horse race from that period, but the most important sight is the street, where the whole of Budapest is represented: the worker, the aristocrat, the maid, the fashionable lady, the ticket inspector and the chestnut roaster.

The exhibition can be visited until the end of the summer with the ticket to the permanent exhibitions."

Source: www.mnm.hu