HUNGARY Globe Observatory
View of Lake Balaton
The history of the construction of the observatory
One of the symbols of Balatonboglár in Somogy county is the Gömbkilátó on Várdomb. Located 60 meters above the level of Lake Balaton, the building offers a fantastic view of the lake. The observation deck was originally presented at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels under the name "Hungarian Atomium" as a symbol of the Hungarian aluminum industry, and was created based on the plans of István Kádár. The area on which it was placed used to be bare, and between the two world wars, the owner of the area at the time, Gaal Gaston, planted it with trees.
Nowadays
At the end of the 1970s, it was moved to Balatonboglár and named Xantus János Globe Observatory. In the 1980s, it was temporarily closed for a longer period of time due to renovation works. At the end of the 2000s, its condition deteriorated again and it needed to be renovated again. It reopened its doors to visitors in July 2012.