Budapest Hungarian National Museum, oldest public museum of Hungary, has a rich and diversified past and still continues to be a popular tourist destination due to its excellent collection.
Budapest Hungarian National Museum is an important and popular tourist destination site of Hungary and is visited by thousands of visitors from different places on the globe all year round. It is one of the first public museums and the oldest museum in Hungary.
History of Hungarian National Museum
The Budapest Hungarian National Museum has a unique history. In the year 1802, Count Ferenc Széchényi gave his rich collection of books to the government in order to establish the Hungarian National Museum of Budapest. As a result, this year is regarded to be the foundation year of the museum. In the initial days, the museum only had a collection of 1156 manuscripts, 11884 printed articles, 142 books, copperplates and maps. This collection was originally a part of the Pauline monastery of Pest region.
Thereafter in the year 1807, the Danish parliament decided to shift the collection to the present Hungarian National Museum of Budapest. One of the most significant donations to the Hungarian National Museum was Julia Festetich’s mineral collection which enriched the museum. Later on in the year 1832-36 the priceless works of Miklós Jankovich was also bought by the Hungarian government.
Structure of Hungarian National Museum
The original building of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest was designed by the renowned classicist architect Mihály Pollack. The construction of the building was started in the year 1837 and completed after ten years. The carvings on the tympanum have been done by Rafael Monti. The building has a female figure in the middle with wreath in her hands. On her left and right are positioned the allegorical statues of fame and history. The image on the right corner symbolize river Drava whereas the one on the left symbolizes Danube River. The museum building under went reconstruction process in 1926 and 1927.
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Garden of Hungarian National Museum
The Hungarian National Museum played an important part during the revolution of 1848 and 1849, specially the garden of the museum. The museum has become an emblem of the Hungarian national independence and the Commemoration day is held in front of the museum. The garden of Hungarian National Museum houses the statues of many renowned people like Sándor Kisfaludy, Alessandro Monti, Károly Kisfaludy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Count Ferenc Széchényi and János Arany among others. The Museum Festival of Hungary is also held at this garden.
Affiliated Museums of Hungarian National Museum
In the year 1872, the Museum of Applied Arts and Museum of Fine Arts in 1896 were built from some collection of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. In 1949, a new act was passed, as a result of which the Ethnographic and Natural History Museum had to split from the Hungarian National Museum. In the 1960’s some other remarkable museums like Rákóczi Museum in Sárospatak, Kosuth Museum in Monok and King Mathias Museum in Visegrád came under the affiliation of Hungarian National Museum. The Castle Museum of Esztergom also became affiliated to the National Museum in the year 1985.
Permanent Collection of Hungarian National Museum
The permanent collection of the Hungarian National Museum includes a display of ‘ ‘Scholar Hungarians who made the 20th century’, ‘The coronation mantle’, ‘Roman Lapidary’, ‘Modern and Contemporary History’, ‘History of Hungary from the foundation of the state to 1990 Middle Ages’ and ‘On the East-West frontier: History of the people of the Hungarian lands from 400000 BC to 804 AD’. Apart from these, special exhibitions are held at the Museum from time-to-time.
The Budapest Hungarian National Museum also arranges courses from time-to-time for people of all age groups. The Museum also has a special section for children which comprises of Historical playhouse, a kidmuseum and some concrete works of art.
The Hungarian National Museum of Budapest has become an important part of the culture, tradition and part of the lives of Hungarian people and one of their prestigious possessions.
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