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PHOTO: Petőfi recites National Song on the Museum's stairs - contemporary drawing
PINNED UP EMOTION
The cockades worn on and around March the 15th express national sentiment,
in the colors of the Hungarian flag. The tricolor cockade was first
worn by French revolutionaries, which Hungarians adopted, along with
the libertarian ideas. The word itself comes from French, with the root
‘coque’ for rooster, referring to a cocky and stylish show of one’s
convictions. The most wide-spread version of red on the outside,
green in the middle, i.e. the wrong way round according
to heraldic custom, is rumored to stem from
Petőfi’s lover Júlia Szendrey, who pinned the
ribbon on the lapel of her beloved rebel.
PETŐFI THE PROTAGONIST
Archetypal revolutionary, Sándor Petőfi embodied
everything a romantic hero ought to be: blazingly
gifted, hot-blooded, passionate libertarian and a lover
of wine and women. Only 19 when his first book
of poetry (The Wine Drinker", 1842), was published,
he created his signature pseudo-folk style of poetry,
dabbled in acting, moved to Pest, and played a
major role in the 1848 Revolution. His literary and
historical merits aside, Petőfi shaped Hungarian
popular imagination through his deeds, works and
personality. Any village, town and city in Hungary
has a street named after him, Hungarians can recite
at least one of his poems, and all remember the
famous lines of the National Song that helped incite
the crowds on March 15th, 1848. True to his persona,
he vanquished in a battle of the War of Independence
at the young age of 26.
PHOTO: daguerreotype by Gábor Egressy
PHOTO: manuscript of the National Song
REVOLUTION BREWS
Apart from national sentiment and love of freedom,
the revolutionaries turning the wheel of history on
the streets of Buda and Pest were fueled by one
thing: coffee. The coffeehouses of the time, numbering
40 in the separate cities of Buda and Pest were
a clean and warm haven, information hub, and safe
place for meeting the opposite gender. The particular
place the events of the March 15th Revolution
were sparked was Pilvax coffee house, later named
"Hall of Freedom" for its special role. The manager at
the time, János Fillinger suffered for the affiliation in
the aftermath of the revolution, but earned his spot
in history books. His joint was where Petőfi first read
out the National Song, which later incited a whole
nation, and the demands of the rebels known as the
’Twelwe Points’. worth taking.’
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