Abstract Austria and Hungary share a complicated common past. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, Austria developed into a liberal democratic republic and Hungary into a monarchy, and yet the B-VG, like the theories of its founding father Hans Kelsen, was received in Hungary. On the one hand, this article sheds light on the legal theoretical influence of the B-VG and the reactions to it in the interwar period. On the other hand, there are concrete influences of the Austrian administrative and constitutional courts on their Hungarian counterparts. Our result is that the potential for Austrian influence remained unfulfilled.