Memorial plaque of Imre Makovecz in Dunaszerdahely

On June 26, 2017, a memorial plaque to the two-time Ybl Prize and Kossuth Prize-winning architect, Imre Makovecz (1935–2011), who became an honorary citizen of the city in 1998, was inaugurated at the entrance under the tower of the Dunaszerdahely Town Hall. The Hungarian master of organic architecture has made an indelible contribution to the formation of today's Dunaszerdahely cityscape. ; At the opening of the memorial plaque, which was erected at the initiative of the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Slovakia, its director, László Huszár, and the former mayor of Dunaszerdahely, Péter Pázmány, Dr. Zoltán Hájos was the first to give a speech, in which he was the first to introduce the celebrating audience to Makovecz's life story. ; “The citizens of our city know Imre Makovecz primarily for his design work... (...) Thanks to Imre Makovecz and his architectural colleagues, the previously bleak, panel-filled cityscape of Dunaszerdahely has changed. The city hall has become an emblematic building of Dunaszerdahely, the square around the church has also become more humane, and Fő utca has become more atmospheric,” said the mayor, and at the same time thanked Péter Pázmány and László Huszár for being the initiators of placing the memorial plaque on the city hall, as well as local sculptor György Lipcsey for dreaming up the memorial plaque. ; “With this memorial plaque, the city of Dunaszerdahely is paying worthy tribute to the memory of Imre Makovecz,” said the mayor. ; The other speaker at the ceremony was József Siklósi, an architectural engineer and former colleague of Imre Makovecz. ; “This story has two main characters: Dunaszerdahely and Imre Makovecz. At that time, the city was a large housing estate – with a church in the middle. Makovecz said: we will make Dunaszerdahely a beautiful city by bringing life back to the city center. That is why we went around the villages of Csallóköz, photographed the old buildings and then dreamed them back here in the city,” Siklósi recalled. ; “We people of Dunaszerdahely can thank Imre Makovecz a lot – the current image of our city is thanks to him and his colleagues. I would like to thank all those who collaborated with him at that time to make our city more beautiful,” said former mayor Péter Pázmány in his toast. ; The inauguration of the memorial plaque was attended by, among others, József Menyhárt, president of the Hungarian Community Party, Nagyszombat county representative, mons. Catholic deacon László János Szakál, Attila Karaffa, chairman of the city's cultural committee, György Lipcsey, Munkácsy Prize-winning sculptor, creator of the memorial plaque, Tibor Kornfeld, head of the Dunaszerdahely Jewish Community. Both deputy mayors of the city, Dr. Zoltán Horváth and A. László Szabó, representatives of the city, László Bachmann, Andrea Herceg, Kinga Horváth, Zoltán Molnár, Iván Nagy, Pál Sebök, head of the Dunaszerdahely City Office, Júlia Bubniak, and several department heads.