HISTORY OF THE HUNGARIAN CULTURAL GARDEN

This is the timeline of the history of the Hungarian Cultural Garden.

Go to www.hungarianculturalgarden.org/legacywall/ for drawings, pictures, audio and oral histories, and presentation slides about the Hungarian Cultural Garden. Using the QR code at the Legacy Wall takes you to the page. 

Go to https://www.facebook.com/HungarianCulturalGardenOfCleveland/ for photos, commentary and additional information.

For details of what has commonly been referenced on the history of the Hungarian Cultural Garden, see these excerpts about HCG from articles and publications.

1925:

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens came into existence in 1925 as a federation of nationality groups that came together “to foster the spirit of good-will and fellowship among men, to weld harmony among Clevelanders of diverse origin, and to promote good citizenship.”

1934:

In rapid succession, new gardens were created. It was on March 30, 1934 that an ordinance authorized establishing the Hungarian Cultural Garden, along with Polish, Czech, and Yugoslav gardens. In 1938, Rusin, Grecian, Syrian, American, Irish and American Legion Peace Gardens were added.

For the promotion of the Hungarian Cultural Garden project, a Cultural Garden Committee of the United Hungarian Societies of Cleveland was formed. On September 24, 1934, the commission gave public notice of its initial venture. The work of creating the Hungarian Cultural Garden was now actively under way.

The site that would become the Hungarian Cultural Garden was dedicated October 21, 1934, on the 123^rd anniversary of the birth of Ferenc Liszt, with the unveiling of the bas-relief plaque of the world famous Hungarian composer.

1936:

Significant construction on the site was begun in March, 1936, based on archive photos showing work on the site, although formalized plans were still being drawn up.

1937:

Detailed drawing for the construction of the garden were created and approved by the City of Cleveland on March 15, 1937 and drawings of the pathways were approved later in the year, in November 1937.

1938:

The Hungarian Cultural Garden was formally dedicated on July 10, 1938. A colorful parade of some 5,000 members of Hungarian organizations, many of them in native costumes, marched along lower East Boulevard to the speaker stand at the lower end of the Hungarian Garden. A crowd of 15,000 persons took part in the dedication.

1941:

On September 7, 1941, a 40-foot steel flagpole and an American flag were dedicated in an impressive ceremony in the Hungarian Garden. With World War II underway, work on the garden and activities related to the garden did not make additional progress for many years.

1950:

On July 23, 1950, at the conclusion of the annual One World Day celebration, marking the 25^th anniversary of the founding of the Cultural Gardens, a bronze statue of Imre Madách, the philosophical dramatist and author of "The Tragedy of Man," was dedicated.

1954:

Dedication of a memorial to another outstanding figure in Hungary's great literary history took place on May 23, 1954, with the presentation to the Hungarian Cultural Garden of a bronze bust of the extraordinary poet, Endre Ady.

1956:

A plague of Dr. József Reményi, a writer and professor of Comparative Literature at Western Reserve University, was added to the garden.

2008:

After long decades, the renaissance of the garden began. Rededication of the Hungarian Cultural Garden on August 24, 2008 the occasion of the 70^th anniversary occurred after restorations were completed under the direction of the newly reorganized committee working on the garden.

2013:

At the celebration of the 75^th anniversary on July 20, 2013 of the Hungarian Cultural Garden, the dedication of the monumental commemorative Legacy Wall in the Lower Garden took place.

2018:

Celebration of the 80^th anniversary on June 24, 2018 of the Hungarian Cultural Garden with a concert in the garden and commemorative presentations.

2021:

Dedication of the Wings of Peace statue and inscribed plaques in the lower garden on June 27, 2021

2022:

Dedication of monuments to Béla Bartok and Zoltán Kodály on either side of the Liszt monument in the upper garden.