House of Terror

The House of Terror (Terror Haza) is a moving memorial to and museum about the two extreme regimes which successively ruled Hungary in the 20th century.

History of the House of Terror

From 1937, the building of the House of Terror slowly became the headquarters of the pro-Nazi Hungarian Arrow Cross Party. When the party took power in 1944, the House of Terror, then known as the House of Loyalty, was used as a prison. Victims, many of whom were Jewish, were tortured and executed.

Even once the Nazis had left Hungary, The House of Terror maintained its notoriety and brutal reputation as the prison and headquarters of the Soviet Political Police (the AVH). It remained as such until 1956, when evidence of the horrors inflicted within its double-thickness walls (designed to muffle screams) was erased and, the building of the House of Terror later became offices.

The museum was created in 2000, under the directive of Viktor Orban’s center-right government, as a memorial to the suffering of the victims of both regimes, known as the ‘Double Occupation’. Today, the House of Terror stands in commemoration of its horrific past, with exhibitions about its history, that of its owners and its victims.

The House of Terror today

Critics have claimed that the atrocities committed under the Communist regime get far more space and detail than those under the Fascists, but in truth, everything detailed is pretty grim. The museum provides a window into a lesser-talked about period of Hungarian history, and is certainly a sobering site. Allow a couple of hours for a visit as there’s a lot to read and take in.

Getting to the House of Terror

The House of Terror is in central Budapest, at 60 Andrássy út. It’s a 20 minute walk from Budapest’s Parliament building, otherwise the nearest metro stop is Vörösmarty utca, a 1 minute walk away, or Oktagon, a 5 minute walk away (if that).