The Jewish Cemetery, Salgótarjáni Street, Budapest

Text and photos: Rudolf Klein

The Salgótarjáni Israelite Cemetery is bordered by the national cemetery along Fiumei Road, which in fact is also an urban reference to its significance within the history of Hungarian culture and owing to the airy development of its environment, it is possible to create an appropriate puffer zone around it which is one of the primary conditions defined by UNESCO when promoting a site to the world heritage status. In 2013 the most important components of an interdisciplinary research project was outlined in which five universities as well as the professionals and students of the Hungarian Jewish Museum would participate coordinated by the author of this article. The exploration stage of this research project would cover historic research as well as the exposure of the present-day architectural condition, the mapping of its vegetation and proposals for its formation. This interdisciplinary research work is completed by a creative-designing stage targeted not only to preserve the existing conditions but also to enrich the cemetery with the museum functions which in turn actually involves a minimal degree of interventions by architecture and landscape design, the application of lighting technology and the integration of virtual museum technology.
If the Jewish cemetery in Salgótarjáni Street shall be taken care of the professionals it deserves and shall be completed by museum contents, it may evolve into the third world heritage site of Budapest after the Danube bank and Andrássy Avenue.