House of Magnates

The House of Magnates (Főrendiház) was the upper chamber of the Diet of Hungary. This chamber was operational from 1867 to 1918 and subsequently from 1927 to 1945. The modern parliament of Hungary, the National Assembly, is unicameral and meets in the lower house, while the old upper house is used as a conference and meeting room and for tourism.

Session of the House of Magnates in 1894

The shaping of the House of Parliament grew out of conscious choices of symbolism and carries important historical and political messages. Viewing it from the side of the Danube, we see the halls of the lower and upper houses rise on both sides of the dome surrounded by turrets, which evoke the memory of the bicameral parliament that was in operation when the building was being constructed. The two halls are completely identical in size and shape, thus expressing the equality between the representative lower house and the historical upper house. The dome rising between them signifies the unity of the legislature as well as serving as the venue for joint sittings of the two chambers.

For a full list of the speakers, see List of Speakers of the House of Magnates.

  • Assembly hall of the House of Magnates
  • United Nations conference in the assembly hall of the House of Magnates in 2012. Today the Upper House is used as a conference and meeting room and for tourism.

See also

Media related to House of Magnates at Wikimedia Commons


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