The Danube metropolis Budapest not only attracts millions of visitors every year because its numerous places of interest and monuments. With its museums, the capital also offers a wide range of opportunities for art, culture and history enthusiasts. A group of students of museum studies from the University of Fribourg chose Hungary as target destination for their study trip, particularly as numerous collections and exhibitions present the history and diversity of Hungary in an impressive way. On the occasion of their study trip in Hungary, the professors and students of the University of Fribourg as well as the Swiss Ambassador visited another stage of the “Grand Tour of Switzerland in Hungary”. This time the place of interest was the Carl Lutz monument on the Liberty Square. 10 years ago, this monument was erected by the Embassy of the United States to commemorate the Swiss vice consul Carl Lutz, whose office was located in the premises of the embassy. The monument shows an open book with a portrait of Lutz on the left and a short description of his rescue actions on the right side.

As one of the “Righteous among the nations”, personalities like Carl Lutz are testimonies of the strong relations between Switzerland and Hungary.

Lutz was entrusted with the leadership of the division of foreign interest of the Swiss legation from 1942 to 1945 in Budapest. In collaboration with other diplomats he succeeded to issue tens of thousands of protection letters, certificates as well as collective passports. As a result, many of the Jews in Budapest were saved from deportation. Some 124’000 Jews survived the war; half of them owe their lives to Carl Lutz

In 1967 the State of Israel honored him as one of the “Righteous among the Nations”.