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I Went To An Old Jewish Quarter In Budapest To Find Out What The Fuss Is All About Ruin Bars (20 Pics)
Budapest’s old Jewish quarter is home to the craze of ‘ruin bars’ – old industrial buildings converted to drinking joints. So what’s all the fuss about? I went to find out.
More info: curiologist.com
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Started in 2002, Szimpla Kert is the oldest and most iconic ruin bar
It had been an old factory that had become dilapidated
The genius idea was to renovate it by making everything a bit worse
Not that there isn’t any innovation
With things to look at
While you’re having a nice beer in the bath
And if you don’t like what you see
Change it – just bring something to draw with
There are some empty spaces left
There’s plenty of greenery
With the odd bicycle and pair of legs thrown in
You can also buy a candle of the prime minister, Victor Orban to burn
Victor Orban declared Hungary an illiberal state
But it looks like liberalism is flourishing here
So who drinks in this bar?
After a couple of trips and a chat with a bouncer
I learned that a big proportion of the visitors were tourists
Who can come and do what they like
And then go home
And tell their friends that Hungary is actually really cool
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What do you think ?
Charlotte 5 years ago
I'm sorry, but it just looks like a glorified crack den to me. I think the Jewish people who used to live and work there would turn in their graves of they saw the messy hipster b******t their neighborhood had turned into. My grandmother wouldn't even let me eat an apple without a plate and a napkin. I think that if I had started writing on the walls, she would have roundhouse kicked me straight through it.
Laura M D 5 years ago
I studied in Budapest for a while and this was the place. It wasn't unusual that random people asked to share your table, and since the general atmosphere was nice and polite, you could do it without a problem. I even took my parents there, they were shocked at first, but appreciated the singularity. Oh, I miss those days and miss Szimpla so much!
Sara Holt 5 years ago
I look at this ‘cool’ space and mourn my late mom’s family who lived in Hungary. Their home and belongings were confiscated by the Germans and Hungarians. All Jews were taken to the concentration camps. My mom was 13 (children under 16 were normally killed immediately but an old man in the crowd asked her how old she was and told her to lie) and saw her baby brother thrown alive into a bonfire. She had other siblings. Only an older brother lived. My mom’s toes froze off during a death march in the snow. I couldn’t sit in a ruin bar and not be aware of the ruined lives, the trauma of the ruined survivors.
Turo Rudi 5 years ago
Please be assured that the victims of the Holocaust in Hungary have not been forgotten in this neighborhood. There are monuments and plaques and museum exhibitions commemorating them. Many residents' ancestors were Holocaust survivors and are very much aware of how their families suffered. Today, those same residents live and laugh and have babies and visit ruin pubs.
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Charlotte 5 years ago
I'm sorry, but it just looks like a glorified crack den to me. I think the Jewish people who used to live and work there would turn in their graves of they saw the messy hipster b******t their neighborhood had turned into. My grandmother wouldn't even let me eat an apple without a plate and a napkin. I think that if I had started writing on the walls, she would have roundhouse kicked me straight through it.
Laura M D 5 years ago
I studied in Budapest for a while and this was the place. It wasn't unusual that random people asked to share your table, and since the general atmosphere was nice and polite, you could do it without a problem. I even took my parents there, they were shocked at first, but appreciated the singularity. Oh, I miss those days and miss Szimpla so much!
Sara Holt 5 years ago
I look at this ‘cool’ space and mourn my late mom’s family who lived in Hungary. Their home and belongings were confiscated by the Germans and Hungarians. All Jews were taken to the concentration camps. My mom was 13 (children under 16 were normally killed immediately but an old man in the crowd asked her how old she was and told her to lie) and saw her baby brother thrown alive into a bonfire. She had other siblings. Only an older brother lived. My mom’s toes froze off during a death march in the snow. I couldn’t sit in a ruin bar and not be aware of the ruined lives, the trauma of the ruined survivors.
Turo Rudi 5 years ago
Please be assured that the victims of the Holocaust in Hungary have not been forgotten in this neighborhood. There are monuments and plaques and museum exhibitions commemorating them. Many residents' ancestors were Holocaust survivors and are very much aware of how their families suffered. Today, those same residents live and laugh and have babies and visit ruin pubs.
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