KesterTester119 features German revolutionary philosophers Marx and Engels
Photo: A 'duo' statue of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which some might recognise.
I don't want to make this too easy, so the question is: to which point on the compass (approximately) are these two staring in this piccie? And you have to give your reasoning - just guessing won't bring you international celebrity status :)
Answers please via an email or the site messaging system. Kindly include KT119 in the subject line.
I've also put out the 'competitors' for KesterTester118 earlier today, to which everyone is a 'winner'.
UPDATE: Contestants and Winner!
This Tester has been something of an eye-opener for me, as you'll see.
Mihály Hollós is always one to take up the challenge.
“Hello Kester,
The statue of Marx and Engels does look.familiar to me, and I believe -though am.not sure - it's the work of Imre Varga.
Anyway, Karl and Friedrich are looking westward, and for an obvious reason:
The ideological war between so-called socialist (but of course anything but socialist in the real sense of the word) east and capitalist west was still raging when the statue was made. Marx and Engels prophesying in the 19th century the demise of capitalism and the working classes, the proletariat, coming to power to build just and prosperous communistic societies the world over, and the two gentlemen being strong advocates of such political and social changes, they are supposed to cast their warning eyes towards the west.
Best, Misi”
Hmmmm. So you are not saying where this work of art was located, but that they were looking west, and that had symbolism. Right?
Ted Boone had other ideas.
“Hi Kester -
When I first moved to Budapest in 1987, these two were situated in the small park near Jászai Mari tér south of Szent István krt., near where the current statue of Imre Nagy now stands. Directly south of the statue was the white communist government office building which many everyday Hungarians sardonically referred to as “The White House”.
Now, in terms of what direction the two were facing the question is how picky are you going to be? The simple answer would be “North” (towards Szent István krt.).
However, I’m thinking because of the footprint of the government building it was a few degrees off due North. So since I known you are known to be picky (you would probably say precise) I am going to go with North North East (that is 22.5 degrees off due North). Hopefully I’m not misremembering all this.”
Me, picky Ted?
Albyn Austin chipped in from south Wales.
“Well the direction will vary of course with the time of day but is certainly southerly.”
Uh? Are you sure you meant to say the first part of that sentence, Albyn?
“The sun is fairly high in the sky so probably early afternoon. The sun is slightly to their left, so I guess they are looking south west.
I guess it might be late morning in which case it might mean they are looking due south. I suppose locals will recognise where they are or perhaps were and so take a bearing,
hope you're a bit cooler over there now - we've had a fairly cool and damp couple of weeks
cheers, Albyn”
Hmmmm. West, North north-west, now south or south-west. What next?
A missive from Géza Jeszenszky landed next in the in-box.
“Dear Kester,
I recall those twins in the park at Jászai Mari tér, in a similar style, but it would be too easy a test if you had meant that.
Hoping for colder days and some rain at Somló,
Géza”
I think you were rushing through the exam question, Géza. Indeed, we are after the direction where they are looking.
Iván Sellei was nothing but confident.
“Hello Kester,
Jászai Mari tér
They looked southward.
Cheers, Ivan”
Hubert “Poirot” Warsmann is not a man to shy away from a tough sleuth.
“KT119 Hi Kester, this is the statue that used to be in Jaszai Mari Tér, in the square by the parliamentary office building. It is now in the Szobor Park, by the entrance in a wall facing Pest so I would say they gaze roughly towards the East. One could see some symbolism in there ...”
Well, that's all points of the compass more or less covered, so someone has to have it correctly.
David McCall pitched in from the US Pacific coast.
“Hi Kester,
This statue was originally located in Budapest, on the banks of the Danube, in Jaszai Mari ter, where it has been replaced by the statue to Imre Nagy. It is now located in Memento Park.
I don't know which direction they are facing now, but while on the Danube they had the Hungarian Workers Building, now the Parliament Offices, always referred to as the Hungarian White House, over their left shoulders. That means they were facing generally westward.
Had they been facing to the southwest, I would have said that they were so visionary that they were looking at their future home in Memento Park.”
Ha ha! Very good, David! (Though, without looking at a map, I'd say that was more due south.)
“So why west? A few semi-educated guesses, building up to my final answer at the end of the list:
As already stated, they aren't looking left, so not at Parliament.
The castle district is further south, so they weren't looking at Halaszbastya.
They are looking towards Margit Bridge, so maybe they were searching for the rabbits on Margit Island?
Since Marx was born in Trier and Engels in what is now Wuppertal, maybe they were looking at their birthplaces?
Most likely they were looking at what may be considered their enemies, but which they saw as the place where workers would unite against their oppressors, the West in general, and specifically the UK or perhaps even the USA. (Geographic perspective gets a bit sketchy over long distances, depending on which type of map one uses.)
Since both Marx and Engels died in London, London would be the logical point for their statue to focus towards.
I hope all is well with you, and thank you for this challenge as we here in the US celebrate our Labor Day this weekend, and the unions at our local Fred Meyer stores go on strike to protest the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger. May the workers of the world unite!
David McCall”
Well, thank you, David. You've certainly come up with a Guinness Book of Record number of reasons there!.
Sándor Németh was next in.
“Hi,
Too easy.”
I've heard that before, Sanyi.
“Marx and Engels used to stand on Jászai Mari square.”
Yes, indeed. But that wasn't the answer to the question!.
“I don't want to win that tester, though, thank you.
Regards, Sanyi”
Well, if you don't answer the correct question, Sanyi, you're safe on that score! :)
I was about to close this tester, when wait a minute – an appeal for more time from Bob Dent came in.
“How about this? I hope I am still in time. Bob
Well, this looks like the Marx-Engels statue composition, which for a long time stood in Jászai Mari tér by the Pest end of Margaret Bridge. The work of György Segesdi, it appeared there in 1971, just to the north of the still standing, large office-block type building, which at the time housed the headquarters of the Central Committee of the ruling party, the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party.
Following the 1989-90 political changes, many statues in Budapest erected during the era of state socialism were removed. This one was, too, though not without a huge row, in which many argued that it should remain where it was, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels being considered European intellectuals, rather than Leninist or Stalinist activists. However, eventually it was taken away and later appeared in a niche-like opening in the wall containing the entrance gateway to the Statue Park (Memento Park) on the edge of the city.
As there is no indication of the wall in the photo, I feel this shows the statue in its original location, which depicted Marx and Engels as if looking over the Danube towards the Buda side. If so, then I would reckon they are more or less facing west.
Bob Dent”
And that last one was this afternoon, on Tuesday, 3rd September.
Now, when I posted this, I would have said that three of you had just about got this correctly. You see, yes, this photo is of the pair when they were still on Jászai Mari tér, as several of you mention, by the Pest end of Margaret Bridge. They stood a stone's throw from where the Number 2 tram has terminated for at least four decades.
But in which direction were they looking?
Now, we have to be careful, because the Danube flows roughly from north to south through Budapest, but it's on a curve, and that makes quite a bit of difference, certainly at either end of the curve.
As far as I can see on a map, the Danube centre line is north-south right at parliament. By the time it gets to the “White House” it's definitely turned somewhat east – maybe 15-20 degrees. Anyway, the guys are looking out across the river, so they are, more or less looking west, and a bit north, right?
Well, I was pretty confident about this, but not 100%. And I couldn't afford to get this wrong, or the EU would be on my back and I might lose my licence. So I googled hard and asked for images.
And guess what? OK, the vast amount of piccie show the pair in their current location, the statue park. But there are one or two oldie pics, and Karl & Friedrich are most definitely looking not over the river, but towards Szent István körút.
In other words, they are looking north, or more likely a few degrees towards the north-east. This means, of course, that the clear winner of KT119 has to be Mr Theodore S Boone.
No Ted, you have not misremembered. On the contrary, four of us (ie me included) somehow believed the pair had to be looking out across the river, but you were spot on – or as spot on as you can get without actually holding a compass at the location.
I feel you should be awarded a special KesterTester prize for allowing you to look so clever, or smart as you'd say in the US.
In view of this, you can buy me three beers :)
Hearty congratulations, and may you be able to save yourself from the hordes of adoring fans, CNN, Fox News etc etc in the coming weeks as news of your success is broadcast around the globe.
Thanks for everyone 'having a go' and adding to the fun, and have another look at KT120 if you haven't sought to studiously sleuth this one!
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