Detective Columbo has a statue in Budapest because of an urban legend, but the biggest mystery is behind him. A case that not even the legendary character of Peter Falk would be able to solve
There are so many statues in the world that no one is very clear about what they do there. Among them there is one that is especially striking for lovers of television series, since Colombo, the mythical detective played by Peter Falkhas had one in the city of Budapest since 2014. The reason? an urban legend.
Falk himself commented at the time that he had Hungarian roots through his grandparents, which led many to think that he could have some kind of relationship with Miksa Falkan important politician and journalist from that country who lived between 1828 and 1908.
An easy theory to dismantle
The big problem is that this is something that has never been verified, and it has not been for lack of effort. For example, Gabriella Csiffarythe head of the Budapest Capital Archive, did a lot of research on the matter but found nothing that linked the actor to Miksa Falk:
I’ve been researching Peter Falk’s Hungarian ancestry for a year, but I’ve only found clues about his maternal side. I have no idea where the theory of a connection to Miksa Falk comes from. I have checked each and every birth certificate of Miksa Falk’s descendants and none suggest any kind of connection.
To complicate everything further, one of Falk’s grandparents was born in Hungary, but his real last name was Hochhauser, so any connection with Miksa Falk fell apart immediately. However, it is evident that at least that was the intention with which it was sold at the time, since the actor had also died three years ago and that explanation was no longer useful.
In fact, The Colombo statue is located on Falk Miksa Streetnamed after that supposed ancestor of the actor. How it all came about is something that has not been proven either, but an important detail is that it was inaugurated shortly before a local election, so it is not advisable to rule out the possibility that this supposed link between the two was nothing more than a mere invention for try to gain political advantage.
The reality is that Anal Rogan He lost the election just a few months later, although it did not affect his political career much either, as shortly afterwards he joined the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office.
And one more thing (well, two)
What still remains is the statue of Colombo, since there is no doubt that it is dedicated to the character created by Richard Levinson and William Link which Falk performed for more than 30 years. In addition, the effigy is accompanied by another statue of a dog inspired by a local dog but which represents the character’s pet in the television series.
And if everything wasn’t strange enough, behind the effigy we also found another small statue of a dead squirrel with a gun. If for the rest we can at least speculate on its origin, the reason for this other statue is the greatest mystery of all. And it also did not appear until 2017, so it was not part of the other original and is known by the name ‘Ars longa, vita brevis’, in apparent allusion to a 1996 work by Maurizio Cattelan that consisted of a taxidermied squirrel with a gun at its feet.
Most likely, we will never know the real motivation for the Colombo statue – perhaps someone from Rogán’s team or he himself was such a fan of the character that he looked for any excuse to make a monument to him? – but The really important thing is that it is still there for anyone who wants to visit it..
Images of the statues | Wikipedia
In Espinof | The 49 best series in history
In Espinof | The 35 most anticipated series of 2025 and the best premieres of the year: ‘Alien: Planet Earth’, ‘Daredevil: Born Again’, the prequel to ‘Outlander’ and much more
