page_title: Károly Kamermayer
section_title: Last years
hierarchical_section_title: Károly Kamermayer / Mayor of Budapest / Last years
caption_attribution_description: English: Construction of the first Hungarian underground line, 1896, Budapest Magyar: Millenniumi Földalatti Vasút építése, 1896 Deutsch: Neubau der erste U-Bahn in Budapest, 1896
context_page_description: Károly Kamermayer was a Hungarian jurist and councillor, who served as the first mayor of Budapest between 1873 and 1896. During his tenure, the city grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade, and cultural hub, and Budapest had become one of the cultural centers of Europe.
context_section_description: His fourth and last mayoral term began after the 1891 municipal election, which was accompanied by violent struggles due to political instability after the fall and resignation of Kálmán Tisza. Kamermayer played a significant role in the establishment of a new administrative structure in Budapest in 1893, increasing the importance of district offices (called prefectures at the time). He considered the development of district administrations as indispensable, reducing the overloading of the "water-headed"-type central city management. Accordingly, local public health, technical infrastructure, and public service agencies were established by district. Consequently, the prefects of the districts became authorities of first instance in city affairs. However, Kamermayer and his staff, who represented the concept of a unified city, rejected the idea that the prefects should be elected by their local assemblies, fearing the danger of constant fragmentation. Thus the prefect was appointed by the General Assembly.
  Kamermayer's greatest personal success was the development of a network of market halls in the 1890s. Along with his successor József Márkus, he had described his idea in May 1882, releasing a report titled Memoir Concerning the Market Halls. Kamermayer stressed the importance of permanent and reliable markets, which were able to serve the needs of the rapidly growing population. In his work, Kamermayer cited examples primarily from London and Paris. The most impressive market was the Great Market Hall, the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest. Designed and built by Samu Pecz in 1897, it is located at the end of the Váci Street on the Pest side of the Liberty Bridge (completed in 1896) at Fővám Square.
  Kamermayer led Budapest as a non-partisan and apolitical manager. However, it was known that he sympathized with the opposition which represented the '48 ideology and rejected the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. There was a striking manifestation of this. When Lajos Kossuth turned 90, at Kamermayer's initiative, he was awarded honorary citizenship of Budapest by the General Assembly on 14 September 1892. The Mayor personally led a delegation to Turin, Italy, where Kossuth spent his last years in exile, to hand over the certificate of honorary citizenship to his old mentor and idol. Following Kossuth's death on 20 March 1894, Kamermayer supported the government in a politically sensitive case. Kossuth's body was brought to Budapest, where he was buried in the Kerepesi Cemetery following a large ceremonial funeral procession on 1 April 1894. Out of respect for Francis Joseph and his Austrian counterpart, the Hungarian cabinet did not have an official representative at the event. Kamermayer also had to stay away from the funeral. Budapest was represented by Deputy Mayor Gerlóczy, who also made a speech.
  The crowning achievement of his 23-year term was the 1896 millennium celebrations, lasting from 2 May to 31 October, commemorating the anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin. Organized by the Hungarian state, the City Park was the main venue for the events. The celebrations became the symbol of the Golden Age of Budapest, which corresponded with Kamermayer's terms as mayor. Within the project, the construction on the first metro line began in 1894. Completed by the deadline, it was inaugurated on 2 May 1896 by Francis Joseph. It is the second oldest underground railway in the world (the first being the London Underground), and was the first on the European mainland.
caption: Construction of the Hungarian underground line in 1896
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