Egger Mansion, 24 Városligeti fasor

Source: MESZL Budapest Collection

The Városliget (City Park) in the second half of the 18th century was a slightly wet, swampy, disheveled area with small gardens and orchards. Amongst these, the strips of farmlands had started to disappear. A big part of the area was leased to the Count Batthyány family at this time. The city council then realized that, to appraise the land, they would have to build a wide road into it. To fulfill the needs of the first serious industrial plant, the Valeró silk manufacturer, János Stolc, the sericultural supervisor, planted mulberry trees in clumps on the area in 1875, where now the City Park is.

Városliget (City Park) in bird's-eye-view (with Theresatown behind it)
Source: varosvedo.hu

At the same time, János Boráros sheriff wanted to create a tidy tourist spot at the end of a connecting road, which extended the street currently known as Király street. With his plan, he managed to win over Count József Batthyány archbishop, who was leasing the city forest, and between 1799 and 1805 his engineer, Rudolf Witsch - drying out the swamp first - designed a tourist spot with a park and the boardwalk leading to it. This road was even lined with trees by the city.

The City Park basically came to being in the last years of the 18th century with the Városligeti fasor (Tree-lined Avenue of City Park - ed.). The name was already known at around 1800, became official in 1874, replaced by Vilma Királyné (Queen Wilhelmine - ed.) Road in 1924, by Gorkij Avenue in 1950, then finally got back to Városligeti fasor in 1991.

 
Városligeti fasor ("Tree lined Avenue to City Park) in 1910 and nowadays
Source: MESZL Budapest Collection, pestbuda.hu

Under 24 Városligeti fasor, a mansion stood bearing the name Egger, after the famous and productive Egger family. Sámuel Egger, Sr. was a tradesman, goldsmith and numismatist, while out of his children, three sons, the Egger brothers (Dávid, Henrik and Sámuel, Jr.) worked in Budapest and Vienna as goldsmiths and art dealers.

The oldest brother, Dávid Egger (1832–97) was the founding director of the Egger Enamel Factory and the traditional Hungarian enamelwork flourished under his hands. However, he did not live to see the mansion being built. The Hungarian Jewish Encyclopaedia writes this about him: „In the 1870s and 1880s, he was one of the most excellent metalworkers, who was the Budapest head of the Egger brothers' goldsmithing and art dealer business. In 1880, he was the one who made the wedding gift for Princess Stéphanie of Belgium in the name of our capital city Budapest: a complete jewellery set designed in Hungarian style. He also imitated all specimens of the old enamels with unsurpassable skill, but he had stopped his work before his rich experiences could be used in modern enamelwork. Out of the Hungarian pontiffs, Bishop Arnold Ipolyi hired him for the most work. The holy water font with the gold enamel decoration in the National Museum of Applied Arts is from the Egger-workshop.”

   
The metalworks of the Egger brothers
Source: gyujtemeny.imm.hu

Up until 1894, Dávid, Henrik and Samu Egger had a jewellery, antique and coin shop under 9 Dorottya street.

Dávid Egger's son, Gyula was a manufacturer and art collector, and also the Director of Commercial Affairs for the "Első osztrák-magyar villámvilágítás és erőátviteli gyár" (First Austro-Hungarian Lighting and Power Plant - ed.), founded by the family in 1887. The founder of the company is Béla Bernát Egger, who was Dávid's fourth brother. In 1896, after the company has been renamed to "Egyesült Izzólámpa és Villamossági Rt." (United Lighting and Electrical Corporation - ed.) Gyula Egger first filled in the position of Director of Sales, then later, until 1918, Chief Executive Officer. When he retired, he most likely began living for his art collection, but his new leadership methods and advanced strategy had their effects for a long time after his departure.

 
The United Lighting and Electrical Corporation and the Újpest factory of Tungsram Corp.
Source: dokutar.omikk.bme.hu

The corporation got ahead of Switzerland, France and England in lightbulb manufacturing and between 1906 and 1918 it became an enterprise as "Egyesült Izzó" (United Lighting - ed.), with the backing of "Pesti Magyar Kereskedelmi Bank" (Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest - ed.). As it grew out of its initial space, the company had continued to work under 7 Huszár street in the 7th District since 1887, then moved again in 1901, this time to Újpest. The planning and execution of the new factory building were done by the Wellisch brothers, Sándor and Gyula. Gyula Egger and Béla Egger hired Lipót Aschner in 1896, who got promoted to Director of Sales in 1918, then CEO in 1921 (according to other sources: 1919). The three of them in the end founded Tungsram Corporation, one of the largest and most successful internationally known companies of Újpest and the capital city.

 
Emil Vidor architect and the layout of the mansion
Source: guideathand.com, lathatatlan.ovas.hu

The Egger Mansion, the work of Emil Vidor, was finished in 1900-01, the first out of his four mansions. The identity of the commissioner, however, is a bit confusing. As per the sources of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities: the house was built at the request of Sámuelné Egger, the widow of the goldsmith Sámuel Egger, Sr., a relative of Vidor's mother. But other sources say that the one-story mansion, standing in the back of a garden, was first designed by not Emil Vidor, but Zsigmond Quittner in 1894 for Gyuláné Egger née Regina Schwartz, wife of Gyula Egger (son of Dávid), and her relative, Béláné Schwartz, in an archaic style. In 1901-02, Gyuláné Egger had Emil Vidor draw up new plans, then in 1910 she and Béláné Surányi (Schwartz) commissioned him to expand the mansion.

  
Gyula Egger, and the entry about his wife as one of the owners and commissioners of the mansion
Source: lathatatlan.ovas.hu, Hungaricana Hungarian Cultural Heritage Portal

When it came to the floor plan and mass (with a huge eight-room apartment each on the ground floor and the first floor), Vidor did not deviate from Quittner's plan and had also taken over the plan of the ground and first floors completely: the layout of the rooms, the complex mass resulting from the floor plan. He only changed things with the 1910 expansion plans. This time, the house got a terrace in the back, accessible directly from the garden, too, and also got a new bathroom connecting to the children's room and the study, which was also expanded to twice its size. Besides these, only smaller modifications were done: for example, the women's bedroom got a large sliding door opening to the conservatory. In the rooftop, he put two servant's rooms, the kitchen, the pantry and the laundry room.

     
Source: gyujtemeny.imm.hu, lathatatlan.ovas.hu

The real change included the outside look of the mansion, the facades and the interior. Emil Vidor created a dream-like art-nouveau mansion out of Quittner's archaic style. This is how the house became the most beautiful French-Belgian art nouveau mansion that was built in Hungary, but it also has an aesthetic sense that has unparalleled sophistication even in Europe.

  
Source: gyujtemeny.imm.hu

The freest design choices on the house are the gable of the upstairs loggia of the main facade and the openings of the staircase. This excessive asymmetry can be found on private houses of the French Nancy art nouveau of the era, built at the same time as Emil Vidor's houses. On the outside surfaces, you can find natural stone base, carved stone and ceramic covering and the flower patterned stucco ornaments on the wall. The special, pretty unique feature is the tin dragon sitting on the roof ridge.

    
Source: gyujtemeny.imm.hu, lathatatlan.ovas.hu

The Egger family's beautiful mansion, occupied by apartments and  offices today, is a listed house.

Source: gyujtemeny.imm.hu

The members of the Egger family and their roles corrected according to this essay: Folia Historica 27 - Kemenczei Ágota: Az Egger műkereskedés és kapcsolata a Nemzeti Múzeummal a dualizmus korában (Ágota Kemenczei: The Egger art dealers and their connection with the National Museum in the age of dualism) - ed.
(Source in Hungarian: Hungaricana Hungarian Cultural Heritage Portal)

Sources: mazsihisz.hu, lathatatlan.ovas.hu