“Without the past there is no future; the richer your past the more threads you have that tie you to a future.”
We would like to start off our new weekly series with this quote of Mihály Babits. The article was made as a result of an order, as we had to create 5 pairs of posters displaying the past as well as the present and future-related details of Hungarian cities (mainly county seats).
The first part of our series features the county seat of Csongrád county: Szeged. The city, as well as the settlements featured later on in the series, is rich in historical events. Let’s just think of the “great” flood of 1879, or Albert Szent-Györgyi, who isolated Vitamin C in Szeged in the beginning of the 1930s. In addition to the historical events, each settlement has squares, buildings and statues that form an integral part of the city image. This is how the Votive Church of Szeged, the tympanum of Móra Ferenc Museum or one of the typical twisted columns of Dóm tér all got a place on the image of Szeged in the past. In addition to the stereotype red pepper and slippers associated with the city, one can also find the logo of the Laser Research Institute, the Belvárosi bridge or the memorial of the flood, with which modern Szeged can be deservedly identified.