You're standing at the Israeli Cultural Institute, a nonprofit founded in 2011 on Budapest's grandest boulevard.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026 · A two-minute read · 1541–now
The short answer
The Israeli Cultural Institute, now called MERKAZ, opened at Andrássy út in Budapest in September 2010, founded by the Jewish Agency for Israel with the businessman Moti Zisser buying and naming the building for his mother, Mala Zisser. Natan Sharansky fixed its mezuzah at the opening. It later merged with OR-ZSE, Hungary's university of Jewish studies.
Entrance of the Budapest Földalatti station "Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út" — 2005 · Jcornelius ( talk · contribs ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
2011 to now
A gallery promotes Israeli art on Andrássy út
You're standing at the Israeli Cultural Institute, known in Hungarian as the Izraeli Kulturális Intézet, a nonprofit organization that promotes Israeli art, film, and music in Budapest. It sits right on Andrássy út, the avenue that cuts through the city's old Terézváros district toward Heroes' Square.
The institute opened in 2011, and its small galleries have hosted traveling exhibitions ever since. In May 2015, it held a photography show by Iván Benda, running for over a month before moving on to other venues. The building itself keeps a quieter profile than its neighbors on this stretch of Andrássy. Its program has connected Budapest to a wider circle of Israeli and Jewish cultural organizations abroad, including others that carried the same name in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Managua.
1944 and 1956
Torture cells and a fleeing leader marked this avenue
Up the avenue, two buildings carry the darker weight of this stretch of Andrássy. At number 60, the Arrow Cross Party ran its headquarters in 1944 and 1945, holding, torturing, and killing prisoners in cellar cells built for the purpose. The secret police of Hungary's communist government later used the same basement for the same work. It now holds the House of Terror (Andrássy út 60) museum, opened in 2002 to the victims of both regimes. In 1956, during the Hungarian Uprising, the toppled reformist leader Imre Nagy fled to the Yugoslav embassy on this avenue and took shelter there as Soviet tanks moved through the city.
September 2010
Sharansky fixed a mezuzah at the opening ceremony
The institute actually opened its doors a year earlier than most visitors assume, on September 1, 2010, as the world's first center of its kind. Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency's board, fixed a mezuzah to the doorpost at the opening ceremony. That night, the Israeli cellist Hillel Zori performed alongside Hungarian Roma pianists, pairing two musical traditions from the same city.
2013 to 2015
A Herzl center traced a Budapest-born Zionist's life
In November 2013, the institute added a Theodor Herzl Educational Center, with interactive screens tracing the life of the man who founded modern Zionism. Herzl was born on Dohány Street, a short walk from here, in Budapest's old Jewish quarter. Two years later, Iván Benda's photography exhibit filled the galleries for over a month, one of many shows that have passed through the building's four floors, its library, and its small bookshop.
2024 to now
The institute renamed itself MERKAZ and merged with OR-ZSE
In 2024, the institute changed its name to MERKAZ, the Hebrew word for "center," and merged with OR-ZSE, Budapest's university of Jewish studies. Its Hebrew Language Center remains the only program in Hungary certified by Hebrew University in Jerusalem, teaching everything from beginner grammar to Bible interpretation. The building still shares its floors with the Jewish Agency for Israel and Maccabi VAC, a sports club for young Jewish athletes. You can walk into its garden café, named for the Hungarian-Israeli writer Ephraim Kishon, or browse the bookstore named for Gábor Vince.
A few blocks south, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út metro station still runs the line that opened in 1896, the first underground railway built anywhere in continental Europe. St. Stephen's Basilica stands about 500 feet away, its dome visible over the rooftops of Andrássy út.
The institute's garden and galleries sit open to the public on the avenue that also carries Budapest's darkest twentieth-century history.
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The Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út metro stop, right by this spot, is part of the Millennium Underground, opened in 1896 as continental Europe's first subway line.
A short walk from here, St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest's largest church, was finished in 1905 after decades of construction, including a collapse that forced it to be rebuilt.
A short walk away, the building at Andrássy út 60 was the headquarters of the fascist Arrow Cross Party in 1944 and then the Communist secret police, with prison cells in its basement.
The Jewish Agency for Israel and local sponsors founded the institute as a private initiative in September 2009, and the businessman Moti Zisser bought the building, naming it after his mother Mala Zisser.
Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency's board, fixed the mezuzah to the doorpost when the institute opened to the public on September 1, 2010.
In 2024 the Israeli Cultural Institute renamed itself MERKAZ – Hebrew and Israeli Cultural Center and merged with the Budapest University of Jewish Studies.
In October 2026 a fire broke out in a second-floor apartment on Andrássy Avenue near Hősök tere, burning a balcony and a room's furnishings before firefighters put it out.
What was here before the Israeli Cultural Institute?
The building was bought by the businessman Moti Zisser, who founded the institute as a private initiative with the Jewish Agency for Israel and local sponsors in September 2009, naming it after his mother Mala Zisser.
What happened at Andrássy út 60?
Andrássy út 60, a short walk from the institute, served as the headquarters of the fascist Arrow Cross Party in 1944 and 1945, and later as the base of Hungary's communist secret police, with prison and torture cells in its basement. It now houses the House of Terror museum, opened in 2002.
When did the Israeli Cultural Institute open?
It opened to the public on September 1, 2010, as the world's first center of its kind, with Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency's board, fixing a mezuzah to the doorpost at the ceremony.
Why did the institute change its name to MERKAZ?
In 2024 the Israeli Cultural Institute renamed itself MERKAZ, Hebrew for 'center,' and merged with OR-ZSE, Budapest's university of Jewish studies.
What happened to Imre Nagy on Andrássy Avenue?
After Soviet tanks crushed the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, the deposed reformist leader Imre Nagy took refuge at the Yugoslav Embassy on Andrássy Avenue.
What does the Herzl Educational Center commemorate?
Opened in November 2013 inside the institute, it uses interactive screens to trace the life of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern political Zionism, who was born on nearby Dohány Street in Budapest's old Jewish quarter.
