Back in the 1970s, in the wake of the communist victory in Vietnam, there was a growing body of opinion in the west that believed the future lay with communism. In a number of articles pundits pointed out that no country had ever been 'de-communised'. There was talk of a ratchet effect: once communists gained power they kept it. Indeed there was some discussion as to whether a country could be de-communised: once the omelette had been made, the eggs could not be reconstituted.

These views read oddly today. Communism has collapsed in Europe and the former communist states have carried out de-communisation measures, each in its own way. The privatisation of publicly-owned industries and services has taken a different form in different states but the main thrust has been the same: namely, the transfer of state assets to private ownership. Concurrently across Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union the symbols of communism have been removed. Towns and cities named after communist heroes have reverted to their former names. The most notable example being the changing of Leningrad back to St Petersburg; and inside these towns and cities many street names have reverted to their pre-communist titles.

The various communist regimes were very fond of statues and memorials. Statues of Marx and Lenin were common in every part of the communist world, and huge memorials to the Red Army were erected in those countries liberated by Soviet forces. Gigantic statues of idealised workers were also fairly common, some as memorials and others as pieces of art. Most of this statuary has been removed: the most dramatic removal being the pulling down of the statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet secret police, in front of the Lubyanka prison in Moscow.

A ticket for the direct 'tourist bus service' to Statue Park in Budapest - offering the visitor the chance to view 'Gigantic Monuments from the Communist Dictatorship'

Most of the former communist states have carried through removal programmes. In Hungary the post-communist government had a novel idea. It decided to remove all communist statuary and gather it together in a park named Szoborpark or Statue Park, located on the outskirts of Budapest. Here can be seen statues of Marx, Engels and Lenin; there is a Dimitrov statue, and a head of Rakosi, all that has survived of a full-length figure of the Hungarian dictator. The massive Soviet war memorials have been removed from the centre of Budapest and deposited here; and the memorial to those Hungarians who fought in the International Brigade has ended up in the park. There are also some huge proletarian figures on view. Curiously, there are no statues of Stalin in the park, the reason being that many statues of the Soviet leader were destroyed or defaced during the Hungarian uprising of 1956. However statues are still being added to stock, so a Stalin may yet turn up. It is certainly a major omission in the collection.

Statue Park has become a tourist attraction. It is open every day and there is a small entrance charge. Special coaches run from the centre of Budapest every hour and there are long queues during the summer months. There is a kiosk on site selling communist kitsch, such as models of Trabant cars; pocket watches with red stars on their faces; lighters bearing the hammer and sickle; and mugs with Lenin's portrait on them. There are also postcards of old communist posters on sale. Hence there's undoubtedly an element of commercialisation on the site that some might find distasteful; however for anyone interested in the history of European communism, Budapest's Statue Park is worth a visit.

Archie Potts