Remarkable constructions appeared throughout the Great Hungarian Plain in the first decade of the 20th century due to the accumulated capital resulting from agriculture and the development of a dense railway network. This was also the case in Csongrád, a town situated on the banks of the Tisza River. Railway tracks reached Csongrád from the west first, in 1888, and then from the East, in 1906, and a bridge over the Tisza was built in 1903. This economic prosperity similarly transformed the artistic needs of the population. Alongside new bourgeois tastes that adhered to urban norms, the Art Nouveau style also emerged.
Two emblematic civic buildings were erected in Csongrád in the period between 1890 and 1914: a girls' school, built in 1900-1901, designed by Sándor Baumgarten and Zsigmond Herczegh, and a boys' school, built in 1913-1914, designed by Lajos Ybl. The characteristic traits of Hungarian Art Nouveau can be found in both structures. This led to the introduction of a basically new type of architecture in Csongrád, which had an urban centre surrounded by rural areas, similar to any other town of similar size with a similar history. New construction materials appeared at the end of the 19th century, resulting in an interaction between the construction sector and urban development plans. These changes were accompanied by changes in society that could be described as the urbanization of peasants.
The girls' school moved to a new building first. Its designer, Sándor Baumgarten, had worked together with the famous architect Ödön Lechner, the creator of the Hungarian brand of Art Nouveau, and was his follower. Baumgarten created a picturesque façade with rows of bricks and terracotta ornaments. The school's present appearance is a result of its reconstruction and extension following a fire in 1975.
The boys' school was one of the main works of Lajos Ybl. It was the first two-storey building in the town, impressive but not intimidating, and functionally designed yet richly ornamented. Its colourful glazed majolica, which may have been produced by a nearby manufacturer, is reminiscent of Lechner's individual style, but its clear structure, details patterned after folk art and carved wooden and sgraffito motifs are similar to the architectural style of the post-Lechner generation, the so-called "young architects", the followers of Károly Kós.
Two other civic buildings were also constructed in the Art Nouveau style. One of these was the Farkas or Eszes bathhouse, with sculptural stucco ornaments. It was built in 1904-1905 and designed by Adolf Varga, an architect from the town of Kecskemét. The other was the Town Hall, built in 1908, with Hungarian-style stucco ornaments and decorative gables. The main façade of the latter unfortunately lost its Art Nouveau features after it was rebuilt in the 1970s.
Beside civic buildings, several residential buildings were also built in the Art Nouveau style, with stucco and ceramic ornaments. The floor plans of public housing in Csongrád are characteristically L-shaped, and their façades are finished with gables and parapets. Their rich ornamentation reflects the urbanization of peasants, as façades were normally not decorated in Csongrád's folk architecture. The appearance of Hungarian Art Nouveau ornamentation as well as the ceramic and stucco decoration of the buildings indicate a shift towards modern urbanization.
As mentioned above, it could be said that these buildings testify to the trend of peasant urbanization. At the same time, they fit into the townscape and perfectly reflect local characteristics. It is therefore worth comparing the small and large details of these houses and civic buildings, their ornamentation and architectural features, and it is also worth preserving and documenting these for posterity, so that we can rightfully be proud of our architectural heritage. Finally, besides forming part of the individual cultural surroundings of Csongrád, it must be noted that these buildings are also important for our nation's heritage.
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