Hungarian National Museum, May 19, 2012
(As prepared for delivery)

The Mayfest of Museums is a 17 year old tradition. It is quickly becoming a fixture of the Hungarian cultural calendar.

This year, more than 110 private and public collections participate in the event.

The theme of the 2012 Mayfest of Museums is the presentation of unique and characteristic mementos of Hungarian heritage, called hungarikum-s, a word fashioned from the Medieval Latin name of our county: Hungaria.

The Parliament adopted a law on hungarikum-s April 3 this year. The law defines these as:

• treasures worthy of distinction and promotion,
• created either in the distant past or recently,
• connected with Hungary, both current and historical,
• that through their quality, unique characteristics and nature
• became a symbol of the Hungarian people.

The recognition of hungarikum-s by an act of Parliament is a symbolic action intended to draw attention to Hungary’s contribution to European cultural heritage, the interaction between the cultures of the neighbouring peoples and the diversity of European identity.

It is important to be aware of and origins and development of these characteristics in order to understand the similarities and specificities of the wider regional cultural heritage. 

A hungarikum can be something as down to earth or seemingly trivial as a special type of sausage made out of the meat of mangalica pigs. Today, however, you and those attending the Mayfest of the Museums will be presented objects reflecting the rich and diverse past of Hungary.

The National Museum, where we stand today, has a special profile. Created in the beginning of the 19th century during the period of Enlightenment and Romanticism, it originally attempted to preserve and present the “soul” of Hungary, both our material and immaterial heritage.

Count Ferenc Széchenyi, the father of the „Greatest Hungarian”, the statesman István Széchenyi, founded the museum in 1802 by donating his immense private collection to this noble purpose. Housing the ever expanding assembly of objects is the historical building built in 1837-38 by Mihály Pollack.

When visiting the Museum you will be able to appreciate collections presenting:

• the history of Hungarians before the Honfoglalás, the conquest of Pannonia in 896 by the united Magyar tribes,
• the history of Hungary until 1990,
• a lapidarium with stones from the antiquity and the medieval period,
• and an exposition about the peoples inhabiting the territory of Hungary from prehistoric times until the arrival of the Hungarians.

The royal cape of St. Stephen, the first King of Hungary, is one of the most spectacular treasures of the Museum.

In addition, certain artefacts and workshops of the Museum, normally closed to the general public, are now open.

I invite Director Csorba to say a couple of words about these and the National Museum in general.

(kormany.hu)