This monument can be seen from almost anywhere in Budapest. The huge statue is installed on top of Gellert Hill and, thanks to its lighting, is clearly visible even at night. It is 14 meters high, and with the pedestal it reaches a full 40! The sculptor depicted Freedom as a woman holding a palm branch in her hands. Moreover, they say that at first she held an airplane propeller in her hands, because that was what Admiral Miklós Horthy, who ruled Hungary until 1944, wanted. His son was a pilot and died in battle during World War II.
The official version, however, says that the monument was erected in 1947 in honor of the liberation of Hungary from the fascists. And originally it was called the “Monument of Liberation.” Next to it, a bronze monument to a Soviet soldier, a scarlet star, and a list of 164 names of soldiers who died while liberating Budapest were also installed.
But, like most countries of Eastern Europe, Hungary soon after the end of the war began to actively “erase” all traces of its communist past. Thus the bronze monument to the soldier disappeared, along with it the names of the fallen heroes vanished, and at the same time the scarlet star was removed as well. And the “Monument of Liberation” remained, but it was renamed; now it is the “Liberty Monument.”
