The city of Budapest was formed on 17 November 1873 when the three nearby cities of Pest, Buda, and Óbuda joined together. Smaller towns near the original city were combined into Greater Budapest in 1950. The history of Budapest begins with the Celts, who lived in the area of Hungary around 400 BCE. Later, the Roman Empire took over the region and built a fortress and town called Aquincum on the site of modern-day Budapest around 100 CE. The Romans were driven out in the 5th century by the Huns, who faced attacks from different groups over the next few centuries. In the late 9th century, the Hungarians took control of the Carpathian Basin, and the Kingdom of Hungary was formed by the end of the 11th century.

Between about 1300 and the year Budapest was created in 1873, Buda served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary five times, with each period lasting less than 100 years.

Prehistory and Roman era

The first town was built by the Celts around 100 BC and covered about 30 hectares on the slopes of Gellért Hill. Archaeologists found evidence that the town had many people living there and included a special area for craftsmen, such as potters and bronze workers. It may have been a place where goods were traded, as coins from different areas were found there. The Romans took control of the town at the start of the Christian era. The people moved to the plains near the Danube River and built a new city that kept the Celtic name, Aquincum, in the first century AD. In AD 106, Aquincum became the capital of the Roman province of Pannonia Inferior. The governor's office and a large military force were located there, and the city had a population of about 20,000 people. The city often took part in battles along the Roman Empire's border, which was marked by the Danube River.

At the same time, the area east of the Danube River was not part of the Roman Empire. The people living there remained Germanic and Sarmatian in culture.

Middle Ages

The Romans left the Hungarian plains in the 5th century AD, and the Huns took control after fighting many battles. After the Huns broke apart following the death of Attila the Hun, Germanic tribes like the Lombards and the Avars moved into the area during the second Age of Migrations. The Avar Khaganate ruled Pannonia from the 6th to the 9th centuries.

In 829, Pannonia became part of Bulgaria after the Avar Khaganate fell and the Holy Roman Empire’s forces, led by Louis the Pious, were defeated by a Bulgarian army under Omurtag. The Bulgarians built two forts, Buda and Pest, on opposite sides of the Danube River. While other groups spread across the Carpathian Basin, the Árpád clan settled on Csepel Island, a large island on the Danube. They created a place for settlers to begin farming in what is now southern Budapest. Under the Árpád dynasty, Hungary became a Christian state, first ruled from Esztergom and later from Székesfehérvár.

After the Bulgarian–Hungarian Wars, Buda and Pest began to grow economically in the 12th century because French, Walloon, and German settlers moved there. These people worked and traded along the Danube River under royal protection. Both cities were destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Europe in 1241–42 and later rebuilt by German colonists. The colonists renamed Buda “Ofen,” which means “furnace” in German, because of the many lime kilns there. The name “Pest,” which has Slavic origins, also means “furnace.”

Renaissance

During the 14th century, the Angevin kings of Hungary (who were of French origin) made Buda the center of royal power. They built several palaces on Várhegy (Castle Hill). Their power and importance were highest during the Renaissance under "Good King" Matthias Corvinus (Hunyadi Mátyás), who ruled from 1458 to 1490. Along with his Italian-born wife, Queen Beatrice of Naples, he helped create a time of great success and support for the arts.

Hungary's major defeat in the Battle of Mohács in 1526 against the Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent allowed the Ottoman Empire to take control of Hungary. Suleiman's Siege of Buda (1541) was part of the Little War in Hungary between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire. Three years after the Battle of Vienna in 1683, a large international army attacked Buda Castle in the Battle of Buda (1686). The battle lasted six weeks. After 12 tries, the army finally took back the castle, but both sides suffered many losses.

18th century

During the 18th century, while Charles VI, Maria Theresia, and her son Joseph II ruled, Budapest was a small and not very important town. Vienna managed the country's foreign relations, military, taxes, and other government tasks. A formal group called the Diet, which usually met every three years in Pozsony (Bratislava), ruled the area known as "Royal Hungary."

19th century

In the early years of the 1800s, Pest became the center of a movement for change led by Count Széchenyi. His ideas about progress were shown through the building of the Lánchíd (Chain Bridge), which was the first permanent bridge connecting Buda and Pest. Before this, people relied only on temporary bridges, boats, and ferries to cross the river.

The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was part of a larger wave of uprisings across the Habsburg Empire. Leaders like Lajos Kossuth and a group of politicians called "people's rights-liberals" controlled the parliament. Sándor Petőfi, a famous poet, and other revolutionaries planned their actions in the Café Pilvax, a place still standing in central Pest today. From there, they organized people in the streets of Pest, gathering near the National Museum where Petőfi read his powerful "National Poem." This speech inspired crowds and helped start the revolution, similar to the French Revolution earlier in the century. After the revolution failed, the Habsburg rulers built the Citadella on Gellért Hill to control the city. This fortress had cannons and soldiers to scare citizens.

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 created a shared government between Austria and Hungary, called the dual monarchy. The cities of Buda and Pest grew quickly and officially joined together. In 1870, Prime Minister Gyula Andrássy formed the Metropolitan Board of Public Works, modeled after a similar group in London. This group planned city improvements and set rules for construction. Budapest competed with Vienna, and the government gave the city tax breaks to support its growth. Its good location for transportation was improved by roads and rail lines built in a circular pattern. The Metropolitan Council of Public Works, made up of leaders like Gyula Andrássy and Baron Frigyes Podmaniczky, planned the city’s layout, creating wide roads and separate areas for business, homes, and factories. Pest was redesigned after Paris, with major streets like Nagykörút (Great Boulevard) and Andrássy Avenue leading to Heroes’ Square and a large park. The 1896 celebration of the 1,000-year history of Magyar settlement in the region led to more construction, including the first Budapest Metro line under Andrássy Avenue. Heroes’ Square and Vajdahunyad Castle, at the end of Andrássy Avenue, are examples of the grand buildings from this time. New neighborhoods were built to house the growing population, which was mostly Magyar but also included German and Jewish communities due to immigration. In English texts from this time, the city was often called "Buda-Pesth" or "Budapesth."

By the late 1800s, Budapest had become one of Europe’s top cultural centers. It was also an important place for the Aromanian community, which had a strong sense of identity. Other cities like Vienna also had large Aromanian populations during this time.

20th century

At the start of the 20th century, Budapest was a city of great cultural growth and prosperity. Its energy and wealth compared closely to Vienna and Paris, which were also centers of art and society. This golden age ended with the start of World War I. After the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, and the Treaty of Trianon forced half of Hungary’s population to leave the country and join neighboring nations. Between 1918 and 1919, Budapest experienced two revolutions. The Aster Revolution created the Hungarian Democratic Republic, followed by the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic, led by Béla Kun. This was followed by two years of White Terror. In 1919, the Hungarian–Romanian War ended with Romania occupying parts of Hungary, including Budapest. A new government was formed under Miklós Horthy, who acted as regent for the exiled king. Horthy’s rule included both grand events and hardship, such as hunger marches by poor people. His government inherited a history of nationalism and anti-Semitism, which later led Hungary to join the wrong side in World War II, the Nazis. Horthy was seen as moderate compared to the fascist Arrow Cross Party, which gained power as the war continued.

In 1944, the Nazis learned that Horthy was trying to communicate with Allied forces and might leave the Axis alliance. To stop this, they launched “Operation Panzerfaust,” a coup that replaced Horthy with the Arrow Cross Party, led by Ferenc Szálasi. This allowed the Nazis to carry out mass killings of Jews in Budapest. Before World War II, about 200,000 Jews lived in Budapest, making it a hub of Jewish culture. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Budapest became a safe place for Jewish refugees fleeing Germany and Austria. By 1942, 8,000 Jewish refugees from Slovakia also arrived in Budapest. Hungary was allied with Nazi Germany, but Jewish life in Budapest remained relatively safe until March 1944, when Germany occupied Hungary in “Operation Margarethe.” The Germans then ordered the creation of a Jewish council and restricted Jewish life. Jewish homes were taken, and hundreds of Jews were sent to a transit camp called Kistarcsa. Between April and July 1944, the Germans and Hungarians deported Jews from other parts of Hungary. By July, most Jews in Hungary had been sent away, leaving only those in Budapest. They were not placed in a ghetto but instead ordered to move into over 2,000 buildings marked with Stars of David. About 25,000 Jews from Budapest’s suburbs were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Deportations stopped in July 1944, saving some Jews temporarily. Many Jews hid or sought help from foreign diplomats like Raoul Wallenberg and Carl Lutz, who provided false papers and safe homes. These efforts saved tens of thousands of lives.

In October 1944, Germany staged another coup, installing the Arrow Cross Party under Szálasi. Jews in Budapest faced new dangers. The Arrow Cross Party began a reign of terror, killing hundreds of Jews and forcing them into forced labor. On November 8, 1944, the Arrow Cross gathered over 70,000 Jews—men, women, and children—and forced them to march to Austria. Thousands were shot or died from cold and starvation. Survivors were sent to camps like Dachau and Mauthausen, where they were used for construction work. In November 1944, the Arrow Cross ordered remaining Jews in Budapest to move into a closed ghetto. Those without protection from neutral countries were forced to move by early December. Between December 1944 and January 1945, the Arrow Cross rounded up Jews from the ghetto and executed them near the Danube River. Soviet forces captured Budapest on February 13, 1945, when over 100,000 Jews remained in the city.

As the Germans retreated, they destroyed the Danube bridges to slow the Soviet advance. A two-month siege damaged much of Budapest, especially the Castle District. Many buildings were destroyed by Soviet bombs and tanks. People survived by hiding in basements and eating horsemeat found on the streets.

After 1945, free elections were held, with parties like the Smallholders, Social Democrats, and Communists winning seats in Parliament. Under Soviet pressure, the Social Democrats allowed the Communist Party to join the government. By the next election, most government members had joined the Communist Party. In 1949, the Communist Party used a flawed election system called the “blue-ticket” method to transport voters to polling places, allowing them to vote outside their home districts.

The Communists gained power with Soviet support. They filled prisons with opponents, using arrests, beatings, and executions as tools of control. The Secret Police used informants to arrest people without charges, and some were never seen again. The government was led by hardline communists who sent materials from Hungary to the USSR for “war repairs.” In Budapest, the Communist government pushed for rapid industrialization, militarization, and collectivization of the economy. Factories, bridges, and railways were built quickly. Workers were forced to attend Soviet propaganda meetings and criticize their own work. The government under Mátyás Rákosi was one of the most oppressive in the Warsaw Pact countries.

After 1989

The revolutions of 1989 ended the Soviet occupation of Hungary, marking the end of communism in the country. Budapest used new economic opportunities to develop more effectively than other regions. After Socialist industrial plants closed, many new jobs were created, especially in service and trade industries. In Budapest, unemployment is the lowest, and average income per person is the highest.

Local government laws after the transition gave districts in Budapest new rights, such as the ability to own and fund public services, decide on community layouts, and set rules for different areas. Local minority governments also emerged, focused on cultural activities.

In October 2019, opposition candidate Gergely Karácsony won the Budapest mayoral election, marking the first electoral challenge for Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán since he took office in 2010.

Images

• Aquincum Museum: Aquincum was the ancient city of Pannonia.
• The tomb of Gül Baba: A Turkish religious leader buried in Budapest.
• The Recapture of Buda Castle: A historical event that happened in 1686.
• Buda and Pest: The two main parts of Budapest around 1850.
• Andrássy Avenue: A famous street built in 1896.
• Budapest, City Park: A public park established in 1939.
• Buda Castle Daytime: Buda Castle during the day.
• Parliament Building: A major government building in Budapest.
• Gresham Palace: A historic building in Budapest.
• Gerbeaud Confectionery: A well-known candy shop in Budapest.