In the mid-1840s, the Swiss ironfounder Ábrahám Ganz set up his foundry on the site of what is now Bem József Street.
It was in this foundry that Ganz produced his patented, world-famous chilled cast railway wheels and grain grinding rollers, laying the foundations for the company's long-term success. Today, the building houses the Ábrahám Ganz Foundry Collection.
After the suicide of Ábrahám Ganz in 1867, his inheritors sold the factory, which continued to operate as a joint-stock company. Ganz & Co. Iron Foundry and Machine Works Plc. appointed András Mechwart as its technical director, who later became the general manager of the company.
Mechwart recognized the potential of the electric industry early on, and in August 1878, he established the Ganz Electrotechnical Department, headed by Károly Zipernowsky. Between 1882 and 1883, the lighting of the National Theatre was completed, bringing great success (the National Theatre was the third theatre in the world to be lit by electricity).
Ganz Electric achieved international success with its alternating current generators and transformers, and many cities abroad commissioned Ganz to build their electric lighting systems, such as Rome in 1886. In 1894, Kálmán Kandó, credited with the development of the electric locomotive, joined the company.
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Due to the expansion of electric equipment manufacturing, operations were moved in 1897 to the area bordered by today's Lövőház Street, Margit Boulevard, Kisrókus Street, and Marczibányi Square, where Ottó Titusz Bláthy, Miksa Déri, and György Jendrassik, among others, were also active. Ganz Electric Works operated on this site until the early 1990s.
In 1999, the government decided that the brownfield site should be rehabilitated and transformed into an events and exhibition center, as well as a park. Construction of the park began on 12 August 2000, with the demolition of a 37-meter-high factory building. The demolition resulted in 120,000 cubic meters of rubble. Additionally, soil contaminated with heavy metals and oil needed to be removed and treated.
Fortunately, not all of the buildings were demolished; several have been partially or completely reused, including the oldest building in the park, built in 1897 (Hall D), and the Great Hall, built in 1911 (Building B).
Millenáris Park, opened in 2001, is one of the finest examples of brownfield regeneration and was awarded the Europa Nostra Prize in 2002 for outstanding architectural design and landscaping. In 2019, the area was further developed with the creation of the National Dance Theatre, which involved the partial demolition and redevelopment of one of the halls, along with the landscaping of a 2.5-hectare area known as Széllkapu.
1024 Budapest, Kis Rókus u. 16-20, Hungary
