Budapest has plenty of monuments that look understated at first and hit much harder when you learn their story. The Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial, on the Pest-side embankment, is one of them.
Updated for 2026: The memorial remains one of Budapest's most moving places to stop. Even with the city buzzing around it, this stretch of riverfront feels quiet and reflective, so give yourself a few unhurried minutes here.
On the riverbank stand 60 pairs of iron shoes: children's boots, women's heels, men's shoes. They commemorate the Hungarian Jews who were murdered here in 1944-1945 during World War II. Victims were forced to line up at the edge of the Danube, ordered to remove their shoes, and shot so their bodies fell into the water. By the time the fighting in Budapest ended, thousands had been killed along the river.
You can also find this memorial, along with many other Budapest sights, in our mobile application - Travel Planner for iPhone or Android. Download it to build your own Budapest itinerary, use ready-made walks, and keep offline maps and GPS close at hand.
Photo by Darianna Oleinikova
Before the executions, those sentenced to die were made to take off their shoes so they could be collected and reused.
This memorial on the Danube was unveiled in 2005, on April 16, Hungary's Holocaust Memorial Day.
Several other places connected with Budapest's Jewish history are close by. You may also want to visit the Great Synagogue, the largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world, the Holocaust Memorial Center, whose halls feature photographs and video documenting the genocide, the Jewish Museum, which stands on the site where Theodor Herzl, founder of the modern Zionist movement, was born, or Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park, named after the Swedish diplomat who helped save many Hungarian Jews. If you want to explore this history in more depth, a guided walk through Jewish Budapest is well worth it.
Want to know what else to see in Budapest? Download the Travel Planner for iPhone and Android. Build your own city guide by saving interesting places, choosing ready-made routes, and spreading them across the days of your trip. It is simple to use and genuinely handy on the go.
And if you'd rather skip the planning, start with one of these ready-made Budapest walks:
