Applied Arts and Artistic Crafts Salon at De la Motte – Beer Palace in Budapest
December 12-13-14 and December 19-20-21, 2025
Budapest, Dísz tér 15.
If you find yourself in Budapest during the Advent period, the Christmas markets will certainly be an essential stop. But beyond the traditional markets, there will also be some original initiatives in the city, focused on design and high-level artistic craftsmanship. One of these exhibition-markets is precisely the Applied Arts Salon, organized by the Rearticon Association, which will take place during the last two weekends of Advent, at a historic palace little known even to locals, in the Castle district.
Unique and Artistic Objects at the Salon
The mission of the Rearticon Applied Arts Association is to present contemporary Hungarian applied art worthily both at home and in the world. Their goal is for the most relevant works of today’s Hungarian applied art to finally find their rightful place in the most iconic and tourist-beloved locations in Hungary – especially where there has been a lack of decorative and functional objects of excellent quality from an artistic and technical standpoint. The particular atmosphere of the Buda Castle district offers an ideal setting to present the best of Hungarian creativity and artistic craftsmanship to both local audiences and international visitors. The context also lends itself very well to opportunities to meet the artists personally.
The De la Motte – Beer Palace
This is a classic hidden treasure; indeed, from the outside, this yellow palace with a post office on the ground floor gives no hint of the 250 square meters of 18th-century painted walls found inside. Originally the surprising baroque palace had belonged to two gentlemen, both in the service of Maria Theresa of Austria. The first was Baron Ferenc Károly De la Motte, who in 1760 built the palace on the site of two medieval buildings. Subsequently, from 1763 onwards, the Czech-Moravian military pharmacist József Kajetán Beer rented the ground floor. In 1773 he decided to purchase the entire property, dedicating many rooms of the palace to his profession: under the evocative arches of the cellars he stored mineral waters, liquids and disinfectant preparations, while he used the attic to dry aromatic herbs. The historic palace, whose baroque frescoes were discovered in 1962, after removing no fewer than fifteen layers of paint that covered them. Following a recent restoration, the palace has returned to its former splendor.
