House of Terror Museum on Andrassy Street.

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images


The headquarters of the dreaded ÁVH secret police houses the disturbing House of Terror, focusing on the crimes and atrocities of Hungary's fascist and Stalinist regimes in a permanent exhibition called Double Occupation. The years after WWII leading up to the 1956 Uprising get the lion's share of the exhibition space (almost three-dozen spaces on three levels). The reconstructed prison cells in the basement and the Perpetrators' Gallery on the staircase, featuring photographs of the turncoats, spies and torturers, are chilling.

The (communist) star and the (fascist) pointed Greek cross at the entrance and the tank in the central courtyard make for jarring introductions and the wall outside displaying metallic plaques and photos of the many victims speaks volumes. The building has a ghastly history – it was here that activists of every political persuasion before and after WWII were taken for interrogation and torture. The walls were apparently of double thickness to muffle the screams.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Ferenc Liszt Memorial Museum

0.06 MILES

This wonderful little museum is housed in the Old Music Academy, where the great composer Liszt lived in a 1st-floor apartment for five years until his…

2. Liszt Music Academy

0.24 MILES

The art nouveau Liszt Music Academy, built in 1907, attracts students from all over the world and is Budapest's top classical-music concert hall. The…

3. Lindenbaum House

0.31 MILES

The first Hungarian architect to look to art nouveau for inspiration was Frigyes Spiegel, who designed this block at the northern end of VI Izabella utca…

4. House of Hungarian Photographers

0.33 MILES

An extraordinary venue in the city’s theatre district, the House of Hungarian Photographers has top-class photo exhibitions. Located in Mai Manó Ház,…

7. Fasor Calvinist Church

0.4 MILES

A stunning example of late art nouveau architecture designed by Aladár Arkay in 1913, with carved wooden gates, stained glass and ceramic tiles on the…

8. Andrássy út

0.41 MILES

Andrássy út starts a short distance northeast of Deák Ferenc tér and stretches for 2.5km, ending at Heroes’ Sq (Hősök tere) and the sprawling City Park …