[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 40 (Wednesday, April 1, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E550-E551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF THE HUNGARIAN CROWN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 1, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on March 18 in Statuary Hall we held a 
ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of the return to the people 
of Hungary of the Holy Crown of Hungary, the Crown of St. Stephen. The 
United States government was custodian for a third of a century (from 
1945 to 1978) of this most important symbol of the Hungarian nation.
  At the time the Crown was returned to Hungary, Dr. Robert king, who 
currently serves as my Chief of Staff, was a member of the staff of the 
National Security Council at the Carter White House. He was involved on 
behalf of the White House in the decisions surrounding the return of 
the Crown, and he was an official member or the delegation headed by 
Secretary of State Vance which returned the Crown to Hungary. It is 
significant, Mr. Speaker, that Bob's association with Hungary and with 
the Crown predates our association in my office.

[[Page E551]]

  In connection with the ceremony in Statuary Hall of the United States 
Capitol, Bob prepared a written description of the background 
information on the political history and the art history of the crown. 
Because of the significance and the interest in this important 
coronation symbol and historic object, Mr. Speaker, I ask that this 
description be placed in the Record.

                          The Hungarian Crown

       ``The Holy Crown of Hungary'' (Magyar Szent Korona) or 
     ``the Crown of St. Stephen'' is the medieval Crown that for 
     centuries was the symbol of Hungarian kingship and today 
     remains a powerful symbol of the Hungarian nation. The Crown 
     is depicted atop the Hungarian national crest, which was 
     adopted as the official symbol of the Republic of Hungary.
       For centuries the Hungarian Crown has been linked with St. 
     Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary. Medieval 
     records report that Pope Sylvester II gave a Crown to Stephen 
     for his coronation in 1001. Because of this tradition, the 
     Crown has long symbolized Hungary's cultural, political, and 
     religious links with Western Europe, although the present 
     Crown is not the actual object given by Sylvester II.
       The Crown is composed of two parts. The upper portion is 
     composed of two cross-bands with enamel panels with Latin 
     inscriptions. Earlier, it was believed that the Latin portion 
     of the Crown was a remnant of the Crown given by Sylvester 
     II. Contemporary scholars now believe that it is a reliquary 
     or other object associated with Stephen. The lower portion is 
     a Byzantine crown produced between 1067 and 1077 which was 
     made for the wife of King Geza I, and it was a gift of the 
     Byzantine emperor Michael Ducas.
       These two separate portions were combined to create a crown 
     for the coronation of one of Hungary's later kings. It was at 
     this time that a cross was placed on top of the crossed Latin 
     bands. Combining the two elements took place about the 
     twelfth century. The first source calling this relic ``the 
     Holy Crown'' dates from 1256, and by that date, it was in 
     much the same form as it is today.
       The Crown was last used for coronations in 1867, when 
     Hapsburg Emperor Franz Joseph II was crowned King of Hungary, 
     and in 1916, when his successor, Karl IV, was crowned. Karl 
     was deposed in 1918 at the end of World War I, but the new 
     independent State of Hungary remained a Kingdom without a 
     king from 1918 until 1945.
       Throughout its history the Crown has generally remained in 
     Hungary, but it was frequently moved from place to place and 
     hidden for security reasons. It was buried for four years 
     after the national uprising of 1848-1849.
       In November 1944, as the Soviet Army neared Budapest, the 
     Crown guard moved the coronation regalia from the capital to 
     western Hungary and Austria to protect them from damage in 
     the fighting and to prevent their seizure by Soviet troops. 
     On April 26, 1945, the guard buried the Crown in an oil drum 
     at Mattsee in western Austria, and on July 25, 1945, the 
     Crown and coronation regalia were transferred to U.S. Army 
     officers in Augsburg, Germany. The Crown remained in American 
     custody until January 6, 1978. Initially it was kept in the 
     American occupation zone of Germany at a special military 
     facility in Wiesbaden, and in the early 1950s, it was 
     transferred to the U.S. Gold Depository at Fort Knox, 
     Kentucky.
       It was always the intention of the United States to return 
     the Crown to Hungary, and it was designated ``property of 
     special status held in trust and safekeeping by United States 
     authorities.'' Plans to return the Crown to Hungary were put 
     off following the communist coup in Hungary in 1947 and the 
     intensification of the Cold War. The Hungarian uprising of 
     1956, which was violently suppressed by Soviet troops, also 
     made it impossible to return the Crown. It was only two 
     decades later that gradual but significant domestic changes 
     in Hungary opened up the opportunity for the Crown's return.
       When Jimmy Carter became President in 1977, the U.S. 
     reassessed its policies toward the countries of Central and 
     Eastern Europe, and determined that the U.S. should encourage 
     relations between America and those Soviet client states 
     which pursued international or domestic policies that 
     differed from the Soviet Union. Since the late 1960s, 
     Hungary's domestic economic and social policy had moved 
     considerably away from the Soviet model and fostered market-
     oriented changes, which laid the foundation for Hungary's 
     remarkable success in the post-communist period.
       President Carter, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, and 
     National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski agreed that the 
     crown should be returned to Hungary. The Crown symbolized 
     Hungary's links with the West and Hungarian national 
     identity, and U.S. officials wanted to strengthen both. As a 
     condition for the return, it was required that the Crown be 
     placed on public display and representatives who accepted the 
     Crown be leaders of a wide variety of Hungarian religious 
     social, cultural, and other groups.
       The ceremony for return of the crown was held on January 6, 
     1978, in the rotunda of the Hungarian Parliament. The U.S. 
     delegation was headed by U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. 
     Congressional members of that delegation included Congressman 
     Lee Hamilton of Indiana and Fortney H. ``Pete'' Stark of 
     California. Three weeks after the return of the Crown, it was 
     put on display at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, 
     and it has been on display there since that time.
       Return of the Crown led to a marked improvement in U.S. 
     relations with Hungary, and that, in turn, contributed to 
     greater Hungarian self-confidence and encouraged economic and 
     political reform. The changes that took place in Hungary 
     during this period were important in preparing Hungary for 
     the successful transition to political democracy and free 
     market economy in the period after 1989.

     

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