Ferenc Reitter

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Ferenc Reitter was a well known Hungarian architect and engineer who is credited with constructing several landmarks in Budapest.

[edit] Career

Budapest's Great Boulevard is, along with Andrássy út, the most important thoroughfare in Pest. Its construction was first considered in 1871 and it opened to traffic in 1896 to coincide with the millenary anniversary of the Magyars arrival in the Carpathian Basin in 896. Ferenc Reitter planned the route to follow a major swampy branch of the Danube river, which swings eastward in a large arch from Danube to Danube over a distance of 4.141 meters. The canal passed through a suburban district of narrow streets and, at the time, Reitter also considered making the backwater into a navigable canal to improve the air quality and lessen pollution. However, a solid thoroughfare was agreed upon and its construction took place at the same time as that of Sugár út, latterly Andrássy út.