Multi-culture and Multi-function in the Heart of Budapest

Spinoza House, in the heart of Budapest, neighboring Astoria and the famous Dohány Street Synagogue, has been spicing up the cultural life of the capital for seven years now.

“At the turn of the millennium, I was told the Jewish quarter of Budapest was to be rehabilitated. At that time, I was still living in the Netherlands, yet, I thought it might be worthy moving back home and support this spiritual rehabilitation”, says Anna Sándor, owner of the institution. Soon, Sándor, who graduated in economics and psychology, and had no experience in either catering or enterprise business, successfully launched the Spinoza House, which at first functioned as a Dutch cultural center in Budapest. “Finding a proper name for the place was a long procedure. I was looking for something that could be linked to both the Netherlands and Judaism as well as it would convey liberal and open way of thinking”, she told Diplomacy and Trade magazine. I finally decided for the 17th century philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, who came from a Jewish merchant family and immigrated to the Netherlands from Portugal. In his works, Spinoza was constantly trying to explore the relationship between religion and the oppressive political power. By the way, due to his liberal way of thinking, he was excluded from Jewish denomination.” Spinoza is not only preserved in the name of the institution, but also on the plaque placed on the house, which was made at Sandor’s request.

Dutch cultural centre

The Spinoza House was opened with the world premier of a Dutch opera about the life of Mata Hari, who was also born in the Netherlands; the libretto was written by Anna Silberberg. “Our first programs were sponsored and supported by the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage and the Budapest Embassy of Netherlands”, says Sándor, adding that the institution was established from private investments of about EUR 300,000. “The Spinoza House is a cafe, restaurant, gallery and theatre, all in one,” the owner continues. “We are trying to exploit every opportunity to make the place one of the gems in Budapest, especially in the Jewish quarter where before the Second World War, about 47 cafés, cabarets, and restaurants guaranteed constant fizzle and hosted different cultural programs.” When the Spinoza House was opened, Dutch language courses were also launched as well as free midday concerts (which are typical in the Netherlands); furthermore, several Hungarian artists, who became famous in the Netherlands, have been able to introduce themselves here. “We presented a piece from the Hungarian composer, Géza Fríd who is less known in Hungary but in the Netherlands, people love him,” Sándor says.

Gastronomy

For quite a long time, the menu mainly covered Dutch dishes or food related to Dutch colonies; cheese-berg and Indonesian meals were offered. “Although, we broke with this trend, Spinoza’s favorite meal, garlic chicken with honey, is still on the menu”, remarks the owner. “I wanted to disprove the general belief of the Dutch dishes being and having always been boring as the 17th and 18th century Dutch gastronomy was particularly sophisticated and open”, she adds. “Economy and international trade flourished at the time. The Dutch people were the first in Europe to bring in and use spices they found in their colonies. The expression ‘cost an arm and leg’ is ‘expensive as pepper’ in Dutch”, Sándor explains. The walls of the Spinoza House are decorated with Dutch placards of the 1920s and 1930s, which the owner purchased at different auctions after finding out that at that time, not only the French placards were especially fashionable, but the Netherlands also had its own repertoire. “The Dutch series of engravings, which was a significant component in the decoration since the opening, has just recently been removed.”

The Present

“In each month, we offer at least 25 programs for visitors”, says Sándor. “Musical, theatrical performances, literary reading nights, fine art exhibitions are constantly on, the theatre-chamber hall with 70 seats is always full of attendants. We have two 80-year-old pianists who altogether know about 13,000 songs and every Friday, we offer Klezmer music concerts and old Jewish meals”, says Sandor who at the moment is preparing to write the history of the Spinoza House for the 10th anniversary of its opening. “It’s going to be an illuminating enterprise history.”