Vashonvéd Bratislava

“The Vashonvéd stands rooted, tense, with its smart Hungarian head on its hard neck, looking ahead. The lion of the Carpathian battles, after having won the admiration of the whole world, has now received the halo here at home. On the feast of Pentecost, its very first statue will be erected in our city. It has already written its name in history, now we will immortalize it for the future by embodying it in artistic forms.” The issue of the Nyugat-magyarországi Híradó of May 23, 1915, begins with these rather pathetic lines. But what exactly was this certain Vashonvéd? Where was it erected? Where did it go? ; The Vashonvéd of Bratislava belongs to the large family of “statues of national sacrifice”, or more precisely, it is the founder of this family in historical Hungary. The first statue of this kind was erected in Vienna on March 6, 1915, on Schwarzenberg Square. It was created by Joseph Müller, and the idea came from Count Theodor Hartig, a former naval adjutant of Franz Ferdinand. It depicted a medieval knight and was called the “Wehrmann in Eisen”. The wooden statue was intended to be transformed by the public into an “iron knight” – patriotic citizens bought nails or metal scales, which they could then hammer into the work of art themselves. The proceeds were used for charitable purposes, most often to help war invalids. The idea came from the custom spread throughout Europe that wandering craftsmen would hammer a nail into a tree standing at a certain point in the more famous cities to commemorate their visit there (in Hungary, such trees were called "vastuskó"). Following the Vienna model, "statues of national sacrifice" began to mushroom not only in the cities of Austria and Hungary in the early years of the First World War, but also appeared in the German Empire (in Berlin, a 13-meter-high and 26-ton wooden effigy was made for General Hindenburg himself!), as well as in Turkey, Belgium, Bulgaria, and even the United States. The largest work of art of this kind in Hungary was inaugurated in Budapest, on Deák Square, on September 12, 1915. The statue - the work of Ferenc Sidló - depicted one of the horsemen of King Matthias's black army. The creator wanted to present a worthy role model from the “glorious past” to the defenders, similar to the armored knight erected in Vienna. ; In contrast, the creation of Alajos Rigele, the Bratislava vashonvéd, shaped the idealized figure of the common soldier fighting on the front. Aurél Bartal, the chief of Bratislava County, justified this as follows in his speech at the inauguration of the statue: “Whenever we have erected a statue in this country to glorify heroism, the model for the statue had to be chosen from old historical figures. Today we do not have to reach into the misty past for heroes, no past era of our history has produced greater heroes than the current war. We did not erect the figure of the armored knight of the past, the soldier of the current war shining in heroism, in his simple field equipment, for the purpose of our collection.” It is also clear from the chieftain's speech that the statue of the Marcona Honvéd leaning on his rifle, gazing into the distance above his Hungarian moustache, served not only to stimulate the civilian population's willingness to sacrifice, but was also a propaganda tool that, according to its intentions, helped to keep the war enthusiasm and belief in victory alive in the hinterland. It is characteristic that most of the monuments built in the last year of the war and after the war are radically different from the "statues of national sacrifice", they exude a completely different atmosphere, and their figures give the impression of pain, grief and defeat instead of heroism and death-defying courage. ; The Vashonvéd was placed on the former Séta Square (now Hviezdoslav Square), in the forecourt of the city theater, in front of the Ganymede Fountain, in a small baroque pavilion donated to the city by the Hubert company. The exact location of the vashonvéd is evidenced by the contemporary reports of the Nyugatmagyarországi Híradó and the recordings published in the June 13, 1915 issue of the Érdekes Újság.). Its ceremonial inauguration took place on Whit Sunday, May 23, 1915, in the presence of Princess Isabella, Baron Samu Hazai, Minister of National Defense, Lord Aurél Bartal, and of course the initiators: Mrs. Aurélné Bartal and Countess Ilona Szapáry. The first, gilded nail was driven in by Princess Isabella on behalf of Franz Joseph, while the orchestra played the National Anthem. ; The people of Bratislava did not shy away from charity: according to the Nyugatmagyarországi Híradó, on the first day, 850 nails were hammered into the Vashonvéd, and thanks to the generosity of donors, 3,361 crowns had already been collected in the coffers by the evening of that day, even though the official price of a nail was only 1 crown. Those who showed a willingness to “make national sacrifice” received a commemorative card and their names were also entered in a book of remembrance. The amount collected increased the relief fund for war invalids in Bratislava and Bratislava County. The foundation, whose main patron was Princess Isabella, set itself the goal of setting up an “invalids’ home” and financing the aftercare and further training of war invalids. Other opportunities also opened up to support the “humanitarian action”. Another issue of the Nyugatmagyarországi Híradó reports that “every Sunday and holiday from 11 am to 12 pm the Bratislava honvéd orchestra will perform a concert in front of the vashonvéd. Program 10 f. for the benefit of the honvéd invalid fund.” In addition, miniature tin versions of the vashonvéd were also put into circulation, by purchasing which patriotic citizens could also contribute to compensating wounded soldiers. ; With the onset of cooler weather, the statue was moved to its “winter accommodation”, the large hall of the county hall, to be protected from the elements. At the same time, it continued to be available to the general public, so that anyone could offer their prayers “by hammering nails on the altar of humanism” even during the winter months. In the spring, it was returned to its original place, in the pavilion in front of the theater. ; The statue was removed by the Czechs in 1919, and its further fate is unknown. Ten years later, Alajos Rigele made a stone version of the Vashonvéd, and it was erected in Gútor near Bratislava as a World War I memorial. It can still be seen there today.