József Hild was one of the most remarkable Hungarian Classicist architects. His work had a great influence on the cityscape of the 19th century Pest. His most famous works are the Esztergom Basilica and several tenement houses in the 5th district in Budapest.József Hild was born in 1789 in Pest as a son of architect János Hild. He studied in the Piarists’ High School in Pest and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Later he became the court architect of the Counts Esterházy; he took part of the reconstruction of their castle in Kismarton and in Vienna. He learned a lot from his father, János Hild; and in 1809 he started to work in his company. In 1811 he travelled to Italy to deepen his practical studies to get the master builder license from the Vicegerency. He studied in Rome, Milan, Florence and Naples. While staying in Italy he got a deeper knowledge of the main structural characteristics of the Renaissance architecture. These structural characteristics are detectable on the churches known as his most famous works. In the 1820s he came back to Hungary, and gained fame in his profession. After the 1838 flood in Pest he made plans for the new buildings replacing the demolished ones. In 1842 he became an honorary citizen of Pest. He died here in 1867.
His Most Remarkable Works
When making plans for his buildings Hild mostly followed the Classicistic style, but in his last years he turned towards Historicism. His work had a great influence on the cityscape of the 19th century Pest. Some of his most famous works are the Esztergom Basilica built between 1838 and 1846, the Eger Cathedral built in 1831–37, or “the cathedral of the Alföld”, the Calvinist Church of Kunhegyes built in 1839. He made plans for the main façade of the Evangelic Church on Deák tér, and also for the St. Stephen’s Basilica, but the church was finally built by the plans of Miklós Ybl. He also made plans for several tenement houses if the city centre, for example the Gross House located at József nádor tér, the Károlyi–Trattner House at Petőfi Sándor utca and the Derra House at Október 6. utca.
Source:
hu.wikipedia.orgPhoto:budapestcity.uw.hu
