Budapest is home to numerous memorials dedicated to General Józef Bem, the Polish national hero who is also revered in Hungary, where he is affectionately known as Father Bem (Bem Apó). The most significant of these stands near the Danube in the First District.

Born in 1794, Bem entered the Artillery and Engineering Cadet Corps at the age of fifteen and later attended the Artillery and Engineering Application School. On completing his training, he began his service in the army of the Duchy of Warsaw, taking part in Napoleon’s campaign against Moscow. He subsequently served in the army of the Congress Kingdom of Poland. Bem distinguished himself during the November Rising, most notably at the Battle of Ostrołęka. After the Rising’s defeat, he emigrated first to Germany and then to France, where he became involved in efforts to organise a Polish army. During the Spring of Nations, also known as the Revolutions of 1848, Bem commanded the defence of revolutionary Vienna. Following the city’s fall, he fled to Hungary and joined the struggle for independence against Austria. Entrusted with operations in Transylvania, he at first achieved notable successes, but the situation shifted dramatically with the intervention of Russian forces. At this point, Bem was appointed commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army. Yet, under overwhelming Russian and Austrian pressure, the rising collapsed, and the Polish general, together with his surviving troops, retreated to Ottoman territory in what is now Bulgaria. There he entered the service of the Turkish army. Bem converted to Islam, adopting the name Murad Pasha, and continued his military career in Ottoman service. In time, he became governor of Aleppo in Syria, where he died of malaria.

In the 1920s, Polish authorities initiated efforts to repatriate Bem’s remains. The idea came from the citizens of Tarnów, inspired by the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on the house in Budapest where Bem had lived. They put forward the idea of bringing the ashes of this distinguished Pole back to his homeland. Meanwhile, in Budapest, a parallel initiative emerged to commemorate the general with a monument. This movement was partly a reaction to the destruction in 1919, by unknown perpetrators, of the nineteenth-century Bem monument in Marosvásárhely. The Social Committee failed to secure funding from the state budget but succeeded in arranging for Bem’s ashes to be displayed in Budapest while in transit to Poland. In 1928, fundraising began for the erection of a monument, and a site was chosen. The initial concept envisaged Bem as an equestrian figure. Preliminary sketches were prepared by the Hungarian artist Adolf Huszár, who imagined the monument in a dynamic form.

In 1929, owing to the efforts of the Polish authorities, Bem’s remains were finally repatriated. In June that year, the train carrying his ashes made a stopover in Budapest, where the urn was displayed before the National Museum during a farewell ceremony. At that time, however, insufficient funds had been raised to begin construction, and disputes among organisers were exacerbated by unauthorised collections. Despite this, fundraising continued.

By 1931, despite sustained efforts, the necessary sum had still not been gathered. The absence of state support, together with the strain of the world economic crisis, compelled the organisers to alter their original plans. In May 1932, it was decided that the monument would portray Bem standing on a tall stone pedestal. The plinth was to be adorned with bronze commemorative plaques and reliefs.

The front and left sides of the monument were intended to bear figures of soldiers, inspired by the work of Jan Styka, while the right side was to depict a soldier holding a flag and crying the slogan “Long live Father Bem”. The monument was to be unveiled in 1934. Two sculptors, János Istók and János Pásztor, were invited to submit designs, and on 21 September 1932 the committee selected Istók’s project.

His design was published the same year and was warmly received by the citizens of Budapest, though some officials criticised its elaborate form. In the meantime, the authorities resolved to change the monument’s location, which required modifications to the original concept. Istók was instructed to revise his design, and in February 1933 the amended version was finally approved, with only minor adjustments. That autumn, permission was granted for construction to begin.

Work commenced in February 1934. The ceremonial unveiling took place on 13 May 1934, in the presence of some three hundred spectators, including a Polish delegation headed by Major Włodzimierz Bem de Cosban, a representative of the general’s family.

The sandstone pedestal, designed by the architect Tibor Müller, was executed by the stonemason Ferenc Unger. At its base, a brick was embedded, specially brought from Bem’s birthplace in Tarnów. The statue itself was cast in the foundry of Franc Krausz and was placed on the pedestal on 14 April 1934. Bem’s distinctive wide-brimmed hat was modelled on a drawing by Sándor Petőfi.

In 1956, the monument to Józef Bem in Budapest became a silent witness to momentous events. On 23 October that year, a crowd gathered at its foot to express solidarity with the political thaw in Poland, following the publication of Władysław Gomułka’s celebrated speech in the Hungarian press the day before. The gathering gave hope to Hungarian youth that similar reforms might be possible in their own country. From there, demonstrators marched towards the parliament building and the radio headquarters. This demonstration ignited a national uprising against communist rule and turned the Bem monument into a symbol of Hungary’s struggle for freedom and independence.

The monument depicts Bem in a dynamic pose, his left arm raised and pointing ahead, while his right arm, bound in a sling and bandaged, rests against his body. His upright figure, resolute expression and vigorous stance convey determination. He wears a waxed coat, with a sabre at his side, and on his head the distinctive wide hat. The statue rests on a base inscribed in relief with the words “BEM APÓ”, and the base stands on a sandstone pedestal of two steps upon a broad platform. The first step bears a panel in bas-relief showing soldiers in attack. The second step carries an engraved inscription: “PISKI / CSATA 1849 / A HIDAT VISSZAFOGLALOM / VAGY ELESEM / ELŐRE MAGYAR / HA NINCS HÍD, NINCS HAZA”. On either side, in two columns, are the names of towns where Bem’s battles were fought. On the left-hand side, the first column bears the names: DÉS / ZSIBÓ / CSUCSA / KOLOZSVÁR / BESZTERCZE / BETHLEN / NASZÓD / TIHUCZA; the second column records: MVÁSÁRHELY / GÁLFALVA / NAGYSZEBEN / SZELINDEK / VÍZAKNA / SZÁSZSEBES / SZÁSZVÁROS / PISKI. On the right-hand side, the first column lists: ALVINCZ / MEDGYES / JÁD / VÖRÖSTORONY / BRASSÓ / OLASZFALU / SEPSISZGYÖRGY / SEGESVÁR; the second column: HÁTSZEG / KARÁNSEBES / LUGOS / TEMESVÁR / FEHÉRTEMPLOM / PETRILOVA / SZÁSZKA / ORSOVA. On the rear appears the inscription: “LEGYEN EZ A SZOBOR A VILÁG ELŐTT / A MAGYAROK FELSZABADÍTÁSÁNAK / SZIMBÓLUMA!”. Beneath it is engraved a poem by Sándor Petőfi, who served as Bem’s adjutant general: “SZERENCSE ÉS AZ ISTEN / TŐLÜNK ELPÁRTOLT, / EGY PÁRTFOGÓ MARADT CSAK / VELÜNK; EZ BEM APÓ. / OH BEM, VITÉZ VEZÉREM, / DICSŐ TÁBORNOKOM! / LELKED NAGYSÁGÁT KÖNNYES / SZEMEKKEL BÁMULOM. / S HA VOLNA EMBER, KIT MINT / ISTENT IMÁDNÁK, / MEGHAJLANÉK ELŐTTED / TÉRDEM, MEGHAJLANÉK. / 1849 FEBRUÁR / PETŐFI SÁNDOR”. All inscriptions were engraved and filled with black pigment.

At the foot of the monument lies a slab with a rectangular niche in which a brick from Bem’s family home in Tarnów was originally placed, together with an engraved inscription: “TEGLA / BEM TARNÓWI / SZÜLŐHÁZÁBÓL”. On the right-hand side of the pedestal, a plaque was affixed at an angle, bearing the inscription: “GENERAL / JÓZEF ZACHARIASZ BEM / 1794 TARNÓW – 1850 ALEPPO / ‘I WILL TAKE THE BRIDGE OR DIE / FORWARD HUNGARIANS! / WITHOUT A BRIDGE THERE IS NO HOMELAND’”.

In Hungary, Bem is held in enduring esteem. He is the patron of many schools, streets and squares, fourteen of which in Budapest alone bear his name. The Polish Cultural Association in Hungary also chose him as its patron, which attests to his lasting place in the shared culture of both nations. Commemorations of Bem can be found across Hungary. Busts of the general stand in Verpelét, Kiskőrös, Székesfehérvár, Nyíregyháza and Budapest. Plaques honouring him are preserved in Debrecen and Győr, as well as in Budapest, including on the house where he once lived. Poles likewise honoured János Istók, the sculptor of the Bem monument, in Budapest, while Polish participants of the Spring of Nations are commemorated in Szolnok.