Route to the artificial ice rink

Many of the business elite supported the idea of skating, which offered an excellent social entertainment for the winter months. On 12 November 1869 the foundation of the Pest Skating Union was announced under the chairmanship of Géza Kresz in the gaming room of Steingasser (Petôfi) Coffee House on the Danube. As a result of a persistent intervention the city council agreed to use a part of the lake as an ice rink, free of charge. The first-ever ‘skating house’ was formed when a two-room wooden cottage was built on the lake shore. On 29 January 1870 the Ice Rink was finally inaugurated in the presence of Prince Rudolf The skating life got on way with enthusiastic dynamism after the opening. Different events with lampions were held after one another. On 2 February the firstever competition took place. After the building burnt down in winter 1874, the capital agreed to have a standard building built. The design and the erection of the new building is a masterpiece by Ödön Lechner. In the ornamented grand hall of the main building the parents and the chaperons could wait and enjoy the splendid panorama. The room for skate binding operated under it, as did the room to warm up on the ground-floor. The music room was located upstairs as a kind of a cupola. At that time there was hardly any public room in the capital with better acoustics.

Skating was enjoyed with huge enthusiasm shown by the inhabitants. Seven years after the inauguration of the hall a further extension was of great priority! This exceptional enthusiasm was well justified as no other outdoor ice rink with such a large surface has been built since in any corner of the world. The exceptional natural and cultural environment have naturally contributed to the success of the facility.

In 1895 a new building was built in neo-baroque style according to the plans of Francsek, Imre Sen., imultaneously with the building works the regulation works of the lake also started. After Vienna, Budapest was the second in Europe to have an artificial ice rink built in 1926. The last major enlargement was in 1968, when the ice surface was extended.

Treasures of the City Park

When wondering about the tourist attractions offered by Budapest, you can hardly avoid mentioning any area similar to the City Park, where visitors of differing ages and arriving with different predilections can find such a wide range of possibilities for entertainment and relaxation. A young or mature, traveller fond of active relaxation, pleasant walks, or wanting to have a cultural experience – can experience here that which is appropriate to him.

On arriving from the downtown area, on Andrássy Boulevard you cannot but fail to encounter an atmosphere at the end of the road, which is completely different from your starting point.

The sculpture symbolizing Gabriel archangel on top of the 36 m high Corinthian column on the Heroes Square can be noticed already from a distance. No wonder Andrássy Boulevard and the historic surrounding with the Heroes’ Square form part of UNES CO’s World Heritage. Having reached the Millennium Monument, you can continue exploring the richness of many cultural treasures on both sides of the square at the Museum of Fine Arts and in the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Those fond of active relaxation can pause here, as the Artificial Ice Rink is very tempting to go skating during winter, yet it can offer further sporting and entertainment opportunities throughout the year. The offer on museums is further completed with the Museum of Agriculture and the Museum of Transportation.

The Vajdahunyad Castle adds a special atmosphere as it takes you for an interesting ride in time mixing the different ages and styles on purpose. It is only a brief a 5-minute walk from Heroes’ Square when you reach the Széchenyi Bath which has been in existence since 1913. It is a delight, especially during the winter months, to warm up in the outdoor spa with its 36 °C thermal water. The Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden strive to present the domestic and foreign breeds and species with ever growing care and for ensuring varied entertainment for the young with the play house built within the zoo area.

The Entertainment Park is located just next door to the zoo, where you can enjoy the classic units from the last century and also versions of their state of the art. The Budapest Circus entertains spectators with magic spectacles. But do not forget about the culinary delights either. The tourists can hardly find any other fancier restaurant in town than that by Gundel built next to the Zoo or Restaurant Robinson opposite to it and on the lake.

City Park Ice Rink in 2006

Historic environment Similar to the excellent transportation connection the Ice Rink’s history is also exceptional. You will sense a rare atmosphere if you skate on the ice just a few ten hundred metres from the wall of the 100-year-old Vajdahunyad Castle. When the white ice outshines the lights illuminating the rink, and the lines of the castle appear mysteriously in the background; pedestrians sweep the sporting public with curious eyes from the bridge on the other side.

Natural environment

Nothing can better serve as a symbol of healthy lifestyle than a parkland with green areas, meadows, and so full of trees, yet free from traffic.

Size

This is the outdoor artificial ice rink with the biggest area and the longest history in Europe. During winter ice sport lovers have a total area of 12,000 square metres at their disposal, while sport and cultural events are offered to the visitors from spring till autumn.

Ice Rink, as sport and leisure-time facility

The ice rink has been a public institution since the very beginning, it falls under the management of the Municipality of Budapest since 1996. The Ice Rink is managed partly from its incomes, party from the subsidy of the Municipality of Budapest, on about a 50-50 percent basis. The number of visitors at the Ice Rink is growing year by year thanks to the institution’s activity to make the sport of skating more popular. The target is to make skating, as a leisure time activity loved in the widest circle possible, and to provide of the sport of skating, to ensure training possibility for the competitors.

The facility underwent an immense reconstruction in the second half of the forties, when it was required following war damages. (This was not a complete one, as the left wing, which was bombed, is still missing from the building even today.) The long-expected complete reconstruction started in November 2005, whereby the technical building was finished and opened in October 2006 in the first phase. A year later the complete reconstruction of the rink will commence and a year afterwards the final phase.

Skating programme

1) The rink is open for the general public with a daily ticket or season card without limitation during the different opening times. The escorts can wait in the big hall (warming room), and can follow the events on the ice from there. The entry ticket allows the free use of the cloakroom.

2) Skating education programme for schools, kindergartens – at special price. It is a special task of the Ice Rink to make the beauties and joy of skating experienced by youngsters in early childhood. Therefore the opportunity has been created that children at kindergartens and of young age can acquire the basics of movements on the ice within the school environment. The students of the educational establishments involved in the programme will mostly benefit from the education within the physical education lessons. The programme is very popular, and the youngsters attend the lessons with great enthusiasm. The subsidy of the municipality allows the very preferential possibility.

For the competitors – free of charge. The bringing up of the young generation for the sport of skating can take no other place, but the one where Kornél Pajor, Lili Kronberger, the Nagy brother and sister, and the Regôczy-S allay pair started from. Two disciplines have privilege: speed skating and bandy. (No other training possibility exists for them in Hungary.)

The rink has hosted several major international competitions, out of which the Figure Skating and Ice Dancing European Championships in 1963 and the Speed Skating World Championships in 2001 need special emphasis.

Additional services closely connected to skating:
• Skate rental
• Skate sharpening
• Use of cloakroom (for athletes)
• Buffet
• Restaurant

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