Statue of Liberty, Gellert Hill, Buda

The Budapest Statue of Liberty was first erected in 1947 in remembrance of what was then referred to as the Soviet Liberation of Hungary at the end of World War II, which ended the occupation by Nazi Germany. Its location upon Gellért Hill makes it a prominent feature of Buda.

The 14m tall bronze statue stands on a 26m pedestal and holds a palm leaf. Two smaller statues are also present around the base. The monument was designed by Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl.

At the time of the monument's construction, the defeat of Axis forces by the Red Army was called “liberation", the original inscription upon the memorial (both in Hungarian and Russian).

"To the memory of the liberating Soviet heroes the grateful Hungarian people 1945".

After the 1989 collapse of communist rule to democracy, the inscription was modified to read:

"To the memory of those all who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary"