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A Little Amsterdam on the Great Hungarian Plain: The Untold Success Story of the People Cycling in the Hungarian Countryside

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In the minds of most Hungarians, cycling is associated with the Netherlands or Denmark. In fact, it has a long tradition in Hungary, too, and—thanks to the cyclists of the countryside—Hungary is one of the top bicycle-riding countries in the EU. In the Southern Great Plain region, every third adult uses a bicycle for transportation. Written by Ákos Bereczky, micromobilty expert.

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The “Modern” Diet: How the Socialist Food Industry Reformed Everyday Life in Hungary

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The second half of the 20th century saw major changes in food consumption throughout the world: new types of ready and ready-to-cook meals, frozen and canned goods appeared on the shelves transforming daily life and our daily routines. While in the West, these new technologies boosted the lucrative character of food production and food commerce, in the Eastern Block the innovations were praised as bringing the promise of a flawless and perfectly planned socialist economy and of a standardized daily life. These revolutionary changes in the food industry indeed had an impact on everyday life: self-service canteens and self-service shops opened, including a chain of fully automated grocery stores called Közért. New types of household appliances appeared in homes, while pantries almost completely disappeared and kitchens shrunk to a minimum size. While some of the new features introduced back in those days are so common sense today that we could not even imagine our lives without them, some turned out to be a dead end.

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Even Colors Are Different in the West: The Death Agony of Capitalism in Color Photos

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Passing by Hegyeshalom (a border village between Austria and Hungary), colors get a different shade. Upon leaving the border and the monotone greyness of the Comecon, color pigments heighten, neon lights pull you in, and lip gloss becomes lively on women’s lips—even though they open for others, not for the average broke Hungarian. From the 1960s on, more and more Hungarians received passports to the West. A hard currency allowance of 70 dollars, a list of addresses of expat friends in the pocket, and the indispensable photo camera on the neck: the following is a selection of color photos of the obscure object of desire from the Kádár era from the Fortepan archive.

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in Weekly Fortepan articles

Summer Camps the Hungarian Way – World Scout Jamborees in Gödöllő in the 1930s

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Chief Scouts, royal princesses, and governors followed in each other’s heels in the Royal Palace Parks of Gödöllő in the 1930s: Hungary hosted two large-scale world Scout jamborees in that period, one of them took place in the summer of the fateful year of 1939. The young people attending the events were making friendships and having fun while people following the events, especially the leaders of the movement regarded and celebrated them as the token of a peaceful future. Then, two weeks later, World War II broke out.

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in Letters from Readers Weekly Fortepan articles

“Those Are My Grandparents!” – Great Discoveries from the Letters Sent to Fortepan

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From time to time, the editors at Fortepan are moved by the letters from readers who took the effort to write down the story behind a particular Fortepan photo or by messages from people writing to tell that they have recognised a family member, a friend, or an old classmate. These letters confirm our belief that (among other reasons) it is worth dealing with archival photos because of these types of great discoveries. The following is a selection of ten from the latest Facebook messages, comments, and letters from readers.

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