Interestingly, coffee also came over with the Ottomans and became even more popular even faster, yet coffee is not associated with Hungary. Why do you think some parts of Hungarian culture became famous and not others?
4. Turning off the Lights
When Hungary came out of its Soviet era, there was a lot of discussion about what should be done with the statues to recognize the Soviet governments. Their inscriptions were written in Russian first, then in Hungarian. The country's leaders were split, and about half of them thought the statues should be destroyed and that they were a bad memory for the now democratic Hungary. The other half thought that the Soviet statues should be left as a reminder of the past 50 years and everything that Hungary had gone through. The government compromised by taking all the statues and moving them to a special park about an hour south of central Budapest, that way, the statues could be visited and remembered, but they were no longer in the main city. One Soviet statue remains just a couple minutes' walk from the Parliament Building in the center of the city. Many other statues have been put up in this park, including famous Hungarians from history, scenes of victory for Hungarians and famous foreigners who made a big impact in Hungary. All these statues have lights that automatically turn on at night, all except the one remaining Soviet statue in Budapest. When the sun sets, this statue goes dark as well. Why do you think this statue is not lit? Why do you think this statue was left in the city and not moved to Memento Park? Do you agree with the decision to move Soviet statues to their own park? Why or why not?
