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MÓNIKA PILKHOFFER Several followers and even more emulators of Lechner appeared.” National style became popular mostly in the cities of the Great Plain region: “where the peasant citizens found ornamentations from folk art close to their hearts.” It was applied by choice in regions with mixed nationalities since it was considered to be “an indirect but effective means of cultural assimilation”.”® However, it could not take root in Transdanubian cities, a fact well demonstrated by the design contest for the city hall of Pécs, in which case the jury remarked regarding Károly Fülöps work that its style made the edifice too expensive, and moreover it did not fit into the cityscape.” At the beginning of the 20" century the younger generation turned away from so-called “gingerbread Art Nouveau”, since they found Lechner’s vital error was that he solely took ornamentations from folk art and applied them on the facades of city architecture instead of originating his compositions in the whole of folk architecture. Transylvanian study tours became very popular among artists in the period and their outcomes were incorporated into the works of architects ” For more about the topic see: János Gerle: A Lechner követőkről, in László Pusztai — András Hadik (eds.): Lechner Ödön 1845-1914 emlékkiállítás a művész születésének 140. evfordulöjara,1985, 74-82. Ilona Särmäny-Parsons: Magyarorszägi väroshäz-epületek a századfordulón. Történeti Tanulmányok. 3., Debrecen, KLTE Történelmi Intézet, 1994, 59-63. 2 Mónika Pilkhoffer: Pécs építészete a szdazadfordulon (1888-1907), Pecs, Pro Pannonia, 2004, 195. 28 + 456 *
