Budapest – District XI (Mészöly utca)

This is a typical street sign in Budapest, the XI. kerület being reference to it being in District XI, Szentimreváros is the neighbourhood and 7-1 are the house numbers on this section on the street. I have no idea why the street name is what it is, Google Gemini made a guess that it might be related to Miklós Mészöly (1921-2002) although it probably isn’t.

But, this isn’t the story that I found intriguing, it’s the one at this web-site about District XI, which tells a story about a pub that was once located near to this site. It talks about the character of the pub, which is now a Mexican restaurant, and the people who worked there. The intriguing elements to me is this:

“It is unimaginable today, but at that time, underage students from nearby high schools were also served in pubs, including Mészöly. The latter became such a regular spot for many of them that some classes later organised their graduation parties here. Although it has become a cult place over the decades, in its heyday, most people considered “Mészi” a classic disgrace, where beer is cheap and you don’t have to pay a lot for other drinks. Many people may also remember the skinheads, whose community was held together by xenophobia in addition to their immoderate enjoyment of beer. It happened in the late 80s that a colored man walked in front of them just as they were leaving Mészi. The gang, hungry for mischief, started chasing the young man, who ran much faster than them, and jumped on the tram that arrived at the stop. The bald men arrived late, but one of them tried to kick the door of the already moving vehicle. Fate punished him harshly: the tram cut off one of his legs.”

That’s certainly some story and the moral of the story is don’t attack people because they’re different. I wonder if losing his leg changed his attitude to life….