The F-4 Object (publicly often known as the Rákosi-bunker, hu, F-4 objektum/Rákosi-bunker) is a formerly secret nuclear shelter under the downtown of Budapest. It is located 45Legendák helyett tények az F4-ről, Rákosi bunkeréről (Facts about Rákosi bunker), Balázs Szabó, Építész Fórum
/ref>-50Ide bújt volna Rákosi az atombomba elől (Report from the bunker), Hírszerző
/ref> metres below the surface, several kilometres long approximately in a "H" shape between

Kossuth tér Kossuth Lajos Square ( hu, Kossuth Lajos tér), also known as Kossuth Square (), is a city square situated in the Lipótváros neighbourhood of Budapest, Hungary, on the bank of the Danube. Its most notable landmark is the Hungarian Parliame ...

and

Szabadság tér Liberty Square ( hu, Szabadság tér) is a public square located in the Lipótváros neighborhood of Budapest, Hungary. The square is a mix of business and residential. The United States Embassy in Hungary and the historicist style headquarters o ...

. It has a direct connection to the Line 2 of the Budapest Metro and a closed tunnel to the

Hungarian Parliament Building The Hungarian Parliament Building ( hu, Országház , which translates to "House of the Country" or "House of the Nation"), also known as the Parliament of Budapest after its location, is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, a notable l ...

. According to other sources, the bunker has a connection with the former headquarters of the Hungarian Working People's Party (located over the structure), and there is no tunnel to the Parliament Building.

History

Its construction began in 1952 parallel with the

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

. Its goal was to provide shelter to Mátyás Rákosi and the Central Committee members of the Hungarian Working People's Party in case of a possible nuclear raid, as well as to provide space for offices of the Parliament. When the danger is over, they were supposed to take the metro to Eastern railway station and then change to an armoured train. It was made technologically similarly to a metro (it resembles metro stations and tunnels), so the workers were informed they were building the metro. According to rumours, hundreds of prisoners worked at the construction, while in fact this work was done by miners. The object, suitable to accommodate 2,200 people, with an area of 3,500–3,800 square metres, was completed in 1962 or 1963. It was equipped with an air filtering mechanism with a capacity of 4,000 cubic metres, appropriate to filter out

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

dust. A water reservoir of 150 cubic metres and a

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

was also installed, capable of producing 30 kW of electricity. An emergency exit was created next to the

Hungarian Television Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...

headquarters, also serving for ventilation. The object, resembling a labyrinth, houses a separate council hall, intended for the leaders of the country to debate the current tasks. Though never used, it was kept at the ready until the mid-1970s. The shelter was revealed to the public in the 1994 documentary film titled ''Pincebörtön'' (Cellar Prison) by Zoltán Dézsi.

Present state

Its status has considerably degraded. However, the ventilator, the generator, and the other technical appliances work properly, they are maintained regularly and checked every week. Former furniture and equipment were carried away as early as during the

détente Détente (, French: "relaxation") is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The term, in diplomacy, originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to reduc ...

of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. Since then, it has been completely empty and unused. It is owned by the state and controlled by the BKV (Budapest Transport Company). It is visited by BKV's maintenance personnel every week, and its technical appliances are checked for functioning. The entrance of the shelter is available from the inner courtyard of a Classicistic block of flats in

Lipótváros Lipótváros (, ) is a traditional neighbourhood in the city centre of Budapest, named after King Leopold II. It is one of the two neighbourhoods of District V, the other one being Inner City (Belváros), which is the old town of Pest. Lipótv ...

(Steindl Imre utca 12.),Pest Megye Önkormányzatának Közlönye, Year 2002, Issue 8, July 22, 2002 this is where the high concrete cylinder can be found from which it is possible to reach the shelter by an elevator or by stairs – there are 283 stairs leading down to the depth. This courtyard can be accessed through the iron gate in the courtyard of the house on the opposite side (Zoltán utca 13.). Earlier, it was qualified as a strategically strictly confidential object of civil defence. Its visit was strictly regulated, and it was only to be seen after signing a statement of secrecy. One of the entrances to the shelter was pulled down in 2009. The total number of entrances and tunnels is unknown.

References

External links

The F4 object
(video report)
Bejutottunk a BKV titkos parlamenti óvóhelyére
FigyelőNet, 2007. November 16. 07:00
A rejtélyes F4-es objektum
168 Óra Online, 2008. április 24. 15:11
Máig rejtegetik Rákosi szupertitkos bunkerét
(Index)

(Origo)
Ma is titkos Rákosi belvárosi atombunkere
(FigyelőNet)
Talpunk alatt egy atombunker
(Reggel.hu)
Titkos Rákosi-bunker Budapesten, 15 emelet mélységben!
(Stop.hu)
Történelemóra Rákosi Mátyás titkos bunkerében
(Múlt-kor) {{Subterranea of Budapest Hungarian People's Republic Belváros-Lipótváros Buildings and structures in Budapest Budapest Metro History of Budapest Military history of Hungary Government of Hungary Nuclear bunkers in Europe Cold War military installations