Malev: Budapest-Wien-München, Budapest-Zürich, c.1964

 

Starting off the Timetablist's twelfth year where we left off in December: in Europe of the mid-20th century, here moving a bit further east at one of a series gorgeous illustrated postcards from Malév Hungarian Airlines, which recall similar articles that have been posted here in the past. 

Like several eastern-European airlines, Malév flew over the iron curtain to link to its regional neighbors; here shown are two routes which run to nearby Vienna; one which continues on to Munich. The other alternatively turns around in a triangle formation at Zürich, which appears to rotate via Konstanz or possibly Friedrichshafen. Only the main airports: Ferihegy (Budapest), Schwechat (Vienna), the old Riem (of Munich, closed in 1992), and Kloten (Zürich) are demarcated by yellow airfield logographs. 

Despite the other delightful pictograms of the image, showing the cathedrals, castles and other landmarks of several of the cities, as a cartographic conveyance of information, the postcard fails to make clear just which cities are served on each route and which are passed over. It appears that between Budapest and Vienna there is a turn at Győr; after Vienna, the Munich route seems to stopover in Linz. Intriguingly, it seems as though the Zürich route, although avoiding Vienna, still lands in Österreich, as it splits westward at the small city of Brück an der Leitha across the Austrian border (of course making its Timetablist debut here). The flight path then makes a gentle turn at Salzburg, which is denoted by a coin-like cartouche of Mozart himself. 

Malév: First Flight from Budapest to Istanbul, 1957

Continuing our retrospective of the 66-year history of now-collapsed Malév, today's feature is this gorgeous vintage envelope celebrating Hungarian Airlines's flight from Budapest to Istanbul. A dusty blue field, sporting a thick, whimsical seriffed script of the airline, becomes the contrail of a turboprop, soaring over a cluster of minarets and domes, recalling the Ottomon-era links between the two capitals. This illustration is nearly identical to the photomontage in the red stamp at center, which features a Malév craft angling over an eastern skyline. Interestingly, the text is entirely in English.

Malev: The Italian Routes, c.1974

Another iteration of a previously-featured series of postcard route maps for Malév Hungarian Airlines, which sadly ceased flying this morning after 66 years of continuous operation. Here were the two principal routes from Budapest Ferihegy to Italy, one route to Milano, the other, via Florence, to Rome. both routes stopped in Zagreb and Venice, splitting at Ferrara.

Malev: The Southeast European Routes, c. 1974

Following on the previous post, this second, equally-vivd postcard shows Malev's Balkan routes, which interestingly bypass the region's capitals (Belgrade, Sofia, Bucharest, Zagreb) in favor of seaside leisure destinations along the Black Sea and that great Venetian fortress on the Adriatic: Dubrovnik. Perhaps the major cities were unserved, or perhaps this placard was meant to entice the socialist holiday-maker. Like the other item, each city is paired with an illustrated scene, further marketing each city as a vacation spot.

Malev Hungarian Airlines: European Routes, c.1974

An adolescent, iron-curtain Malev commissioned a series of eye-watering route map postcards in the 1970s. The Northwestern European network is here, thick red lines and red dots fanning out from Ferihegy as far as London.

Each city is delightfully accompanied by picture-book illustrations of landmarks: a wintry scene down the Prinzengracht towards the Westerkerk marks Amsterdam; Schloß Schönnbrunn stands for Vienna; the Charles Bridge for Prague. A dull vista of office blocks represents Brussels in its pre-EU years; East Berlin is landmarked by modernist office block towering over an arrangement of flagpoles in a windswept plaza. What a completely gorgeous and delightful item.