During the period of 33 years from May 1933, on the corner of Dózsa György Road and Thököly Road in the 14th District, a portable structure of steel   served as a church for the Budapest-Baross Square Reformed congregation.   This temporary building was demolished in 1966, explained with some alleged cityscape reasons, in the framework of the preparatory works for the 1966  European Atlethics Championships held in Budapest .  Following to this, the congregation moved to the headquarters of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary nearby.

On 31 May 2015, at 16 o'clock, a memorial stone was dedicated in site of the former wooden church. The opening address was told by  István Szabó, presiding bishop  of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary,  president of the  the Danubian Church District. He unveiled the memorial stone together with Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of District XIV of Budapest (Zugló).

The text of the sermon was taken by István Szabó from the Acts of Apostles.  In his explanation, the Bishop made a comparison between the ancient Ecclesia and the confession periods in the history of the 20th century Reformed Church of Hungary.   "If we listen to people, we will remain silent and when we listen to Jesus, we will speak. A witness can not be silent! "- he emphasized.

Following to the unveiling of the memorial stone, in his welcome speech, mayor Gergely Karácsony said it was a great pleasure to him to  hear in the sermon not only about the memories of the demolished church and the witnesses of ancient times, but at the same time, it was a look into the future. He expressed his wish that this memorial stone be the cornerstone of a church to be built in the future.  He assured the audience of the contribution of the Zugló Municipality – as far as possible - to the expenses of the construction of a church in the future, in the same way it supported the erection of this memorial stone and the related ceremony.

„No community can exist without memory, and without community, there is no meaningful human life” – the mayor said.

Following to this, welcome greetings were pronounced by András Szilágyi-Sándor, notary in chief of the Northern Budapest  Reformed Diocese.  

These words were followed by the speech of the author of the present report, leader of the József Samodai Local History Workshop of Zugló. In his historical overview, he focused on three important dates:

"The church was built in 1910. In this period, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire,  the winds of the  imminent World War  became perceptible, but still lived in time of peace, and  the country's economic life was characterized by progress. This building was consecrated in 1933, just after the Great Depression. However, the sad end came in 1966 when the church was demolished. "

The ceremony ended with thanksgiving words of Gyula Nemes, churchwarden of the Budapest Baross Square Reformed Congregation .

Máté Millisits, Historian
Translated by Endre Millisits