House of Terror
On Gingerguide's self-guided Budapest audio tour, House of Terror is a stop worth about ~60 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type museum
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Budapest Budapest guide
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About House of Terror
At Andrássy 60, a black blade casts the word TERROR across the facade of a building where both the Arrow Cross and the communist secret police tortured and killed.
The House of Terror occupies Andrássy Avenue 60, a nineteenth-century apartment building that was not purpose-built as a museum or prison but repurposed by two successive regimes of terror. From 1944 it served as the headquarters of the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian Nazi movement, which called it the 'House of Loyalty'. After the war the communist State Protection Authority (ÁVO, later ÁVH) took it over; prisoners were detained and tortured in its cellars, which are preserved within the exhibition.
Opened on 24 February 2002 under director general Mária Schmidt, the museum documents both regimes and memorialises their victims. Its projecting black 'blade' frame and interior were designed by architect Attila F. Kovács; in raking light the perforated blade casts the word TERROR onto the facade. A member of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, the museum has drawn scholarly criticism over the balance it strikes between the two regimes.
How much time do you need at House of Terror?
Around ~60 min works well for House of Terror — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at House of Terror?
Yes — House of Terror made the cut as one of 31 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Budapest. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Budapest
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about House of Terror and read more:
Day 2 of the Budapest in 2 days itinerary →Day 3 of the Budapest in 3 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of House of Terror
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