Hospital in the rock bunker

The Hospital in the Rock in Budapest is a hospital-turned-memorial that serves as a grim reminder of the horrors of the war and of the suffering it brings upon the people. It was first opened in to serve as a hospital for wounded Hungarian civilians who were injured during airstrikes and, hospital in the rock bunker, eventually, also for the soldiers. The crew of doctors and nurses, who saved thousands of lives, consisted partly of Jewish prisoners, who were forced to be there as part of their labour service. Gradually, the hospital fell into disrepair.

The Hospital in the Rock Sziklakorhaz underneath the Buda Castle district is one of the most unique and fascinating attractions of Budapest. It was built to house an air raid hospital, then it was transformed into a nuclear bunker. Nowadays the Hospital in the Rock museum is one of the biggest Hungarian waxwork exhibitions with more than figures, and numerous original machinery and furniture that are still in working conditions. In the 13th century wells were dug and the caves were convenient for storing wines and chilling foods. Jump to the 20th century, in the WWII, the halls and tunnels were used as refuges. In the mayor of Budapest ordered the construction of a a first-aid shelter which could withstand the blasts of bombing, and the caves under the Castle area seemed to be a logical choice.

Hospital in the rock bunker

After Soviet troops crushed the rebellion, tens of thousands of Hungarians were imprisoned or executed for participating, including doctors who treated injured freedom fighters. Today, the beds in one ward are filled with lifelike wax figures of Hungarian, German and Russian soldiers to depict scenes from when the hospital was first used during World War II. Another room includes a figure of a young Dr Seibriger standing among beds of patients injured during the uprising. When World War II broke out, a municipal air-raid siren control room was built in one of the caves, and as the fighting intensified, city officials drew up plans to build emergency medical facilities here. As World War II persisted and the Russians continued to hold Budapest under siege, the Hospital in the Rock became the only place in the heavily-bombed city where people could get an x-ray or an operation. Treated patients did not want to leave for fear of the war outside, and often family members and friends of those injured stayed as well, using the hospital as a shelter. She recalled sleeping on a stretcher that became free when a patient died. The hospital was overcrowded during the war, housing up to patients Credit: Sara Toth Stub. With so many patients and inadequate supplies, infection was rampant, and each day, bodies were taken outside and quickly given temporary burial in bomb craters. Bandages were taken off dead bodies and used to treat new patients.

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Contact: info[at]hospitalintherock. The hospital had a crucial, historical role as an emergency institution during the Second World War and the revolution. It was upgraded to a nuclear bunker during the Cold War era and classified as top secret until Doctors, nurses and volunteers had proven their courage and humanity here in the most difficult times of the 20th century. The museum pays tribute to those inspiring everyday heroes to preserve and strongly emphasize the real and most important human values. The test season of the museum and reconstruction work started in The museum was opened in

War-wounded patients lie side by side amid dim lights inside recreated hospital wards, where bunk beds and stretchers are packed with life-sized wax figures of bleeding soldiers and civilians who suffered severe injuries during violent fights. Through centuries of Hungarian history, these Castle Hill caves served as wine cellars, food-storage spaces, and dungeons, but the idea to use them for a protected first-aid center was first originated in , and the hospital construction works did not begin until the outbreak of World War II in In addition to establishing safe houses for children across Budapest that saved an estimated 15, lives, Born arranged that the subterranean hospital would receive protected status that prevented Nazi or Red Army violence within this space. During the tumultuous weeks that followed, the hospital operated continuously to treat wounded revolutionaries and innocent Hungarian civilians caught in the crossfire. Shortly after the revolution was quashed by the Red Army in early November, the hospital closed its doors for the second time.

Hospital in the rock bunker

Directly underneath the castle, however, lies a less-frequented tourist attraction: a series of ancient, naturally formed caves with a colorful and sometimes disturbing history. The entire cave system is over six miles long, and most of that has been left unchanged since it was used as cold storage and a rumored dungeon in the Middle Ages. Between and , however, a half-mile stretch of those caves was built up and repurposed many times over. At the start of World War II, the location served as a single-room air raid center , but operating theaters, corridors, and wards were quickly added to create a much-needed hospital. By early , the hospital had officially opened inside the cave, tending to wounded Hungarian and Nazi soldiers. After less than a year of operation, the facility found itself facing its largest challenge—the Siege of Budapest, which lasted seven weeks and was eventually won by Allied forces on their way to Berlin.

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Dear Shona, the closest stop is at the Buda Tower also called Elisabeth Tower , it is appr 10 min walk. Canwest News Service. She recalled sleeping on a stretcher that became free when a patient died. Article Talk. It is the first permanent European exhibition that is intended to express the horror of those who were eyewitnesses of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in In the 13th century wells were dug and the caves were convenient for storing wines and chilling foods. The West Australian. Ticket Prices Vary. It was first opened in to serve as a hospital for wounded Hungarian civilians who were injured during airstrikes and, eventually, also for the soldiers. Skip to main content. Instead of a shelter, the government wanted to have a hospital that could function in case of a chemical or a nuclear attack, so the whole facility was modified to be nuclear resistant. Duration: 60 min. The museum can be visited with a guided tour, which is included in the price.

After Soviet troops crushed the rebellion, tens of thousands of Hungarians were imprisoned or executed for participating, including doctors who treated injured freedom fighters. Today, the beds in one ward are filled with lifelike wax figures of Hungarian, German and Russian soldiers to depict scenes from when the hospital was first used during World War II. Another room includes a figure of a young Dr Seibriger standing among beds of patients injured during the uprising.

Its primary role was to provide general emergency care for injured civilians, later on they treated soldiers as well. When the siege finally ended in February , with Hungary coming under the control of the Soviet Union, many of the doctors and nurses who worked at the hospital fled the country to avoid living under Soviet rule, taking advantage of certificates of international protection they were issued by the Red Cross during the war. Ticket Prices Vary. A water storage system was added that could hold a three-week reserve of clean water. Housed in an 18th-century palace with a lovely courtyard, this wonderful little museum traces the development of music in Hungary from the 18th century to…. More ticket prices. We use your help to maintain the museum, to donate class trips for disadvantaged children, and provide our scientific, research, and educational activities. Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum 0. This kind of structured walk might be another reason why younger children would very likely be disappointed prefer to explore freely as opposed to following a group tour. It is more like a cave tour in a sense that individual or group visitors are grouped and led in a narrated guided tour, progressing from cave room to room. German soldiers were also treated in the hospital but they mostly stayed in their own part of the cave system. Civil-Military Relations. House of Terror. Great Synagogue. Music History Museum.