“Ludovika” Has Always Meant Quality

The Minister said that the government does its best to make sure that quality continues to be the hallmark of public service in the future too. And “Ludovika" has always meant quality, as it was the place where up-to-date military professional knowledge was taught on a very high level, and the concept of a Ludovika officer – first and foremost – meant human quality. That is, it meant a highly trained, mentally and physically prepared man who is committed to the service of the homeland and the nation. This is the example to be followed today by all military officers and all students of the National University of Public Service. In a period when the state and the Hungarian Defence Forces are being renewed, we must return to the spirit and morality that have characterized this institution since its foundation.

Minister Hende added that they want neither to relive the past nor to feel nostalgic about the “shadow" of an old era. Rather, the objective is to make sure that those young people who graduate from here and dedicate themselves to the service of the nation are really able to pursue a thriving career and win the future for the nation and public welfare. He also said that, as it is known, the Ludovika had been the alma mater of Hungarian military officers. “It was theirs, and they fought in the battlefields of the 19th and 20th centuries in defence of the nation. They were faithful to the flag, to the cause of Hungarian freedom, to the letter and spirit of the Hungarian constitution at all times", he added.

András Patyi, the Rector of the National University of Public Service delivered a speech during the ceremony, in which he said that the building of the one-time Ludovika Academy symbolizes the reorganization of the Hungarian state and the rebirth of thinking in terms of the state. “Academies are not created from concrete, mortar and bricks. A university must be created and maintained by a mentality whose background is formed of high-sounding and truly high ideas and views", the Rector said. For this reason, the university wishes to serve the nation not only with renovating the building but also with renewing those values that once meant the Ludovika Academy, András Patyi emphasized.

Speaking at the ceremony, Máté Kocsis, the Mayor of the 8th District said that the history of the district has become inseparable from that of the Academy. He reminded his audience that the Ludovika Academy had opened its gates in 1872 and the most excellent young men of the country had been educated there. “I must say that Józsefváros (the 8th District) itself is the conception, birth, cradle, adolescence and adulthood of the Ludovika", he added. He also said that the district would be inconceivable without the Ludovika, and vice versa, the Academy would be inconceivable outside the district. “That is exactly why, besides the past and the present, I also think of the future", he stressed.

After the ceremonial speeches, the Minister of Defence and the Rector of the University jointly unveiled a column symbolizing the national memorial site outside the institution. After the unveiling ceremony, the HDF Air Force Band gave a concert in the Ludovika Chapel. Also present at the meeting were, among others, the old Ludovika officers, Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, Chief of Defence, Anikó Farkas, MoD Cabinet Chief and Maj.-Gen. István Kun Szabó.

Photo: Mária Krasznai-Nehrebeczky