It was on this day 147 years ago (November 17, 1873) that Pest, Buda Óbuda and the Margaret Island on the River Danube were officially united under the name Budapest.
The idea of uniting the three cities and towns dates back to 1849. In that year, Interior Minister Bertalan Szemere ordered the unification of the cities of Pest and Buda and the incorporation of the market town of Óbuda. However, the political situation after the war of independence did not allow the implementation of the Szemere decree.
Following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 the Mayor of Pest, Mór Szentmihályi, called for discussing the unification again. Administrative preparations and negotiations lasted for four years.
The city as we know it today - Greater Budapest - was established only in 1950, when the peripheral districts, which had meanwhile developed into towns and villages, were annexed to Budapest.
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