Budapest Guide
Józsefváros and Ferencváros
Hungarian National Museum
Opening time: Tues– Sun 10am–6pm
Price: 1000Ft; free on March 15, Aug 20 & Oct 23
Address: Múzeum körút 14-16
Website: www.hnm.hu
Like the National Library on Várhegy, the Hungarian National Museum (Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum) was the brainchild of Count Ferenc Széchenyi (father of István), who donated thousands of prints and manuscripts to form the basis of its collection. Housed in a Grecian-style edifice by Mihály Pollack, it was only the fourth such museum in the world when it opened in 1847, and soon afterwards became the stage for a famous event in the 1848 Revolution, when Sándor Petőfi first declaimed the National Song from its steps, with its rousing refrain "Choose! Now is the time! Shall we be slaves or shall we be free?" ("Some noisy mob had their hurly-burly outside so I left for home," complained the museum's director.)
The main exhibition on the upper floor traces Hungarian history from the Árpád dynasty to the end of Communism, starting on the left side of the rotunda at the top of the stairs. Don't miss the ivory saddles inlaid with hunting scenes in room 3, the suit of armour of the child-king Sigismund II in room 5, or the huge carved Renaissance pew in room 6. Turkish weaponry and the ornate tomb of Count György Apafi in room 7 speak of the 150 years when Hungary was divided and its destiny decided by intriguers and warlords, including the Forgáchs and Nádasdys depicted in the oldest portraits in Hungary, hung in room 8 – except for the infamous "Blood Countess" Erzsébet Báthori, whose picture is kept in storage.
From here, proceed back across the rotunda to find the Reform era and the belle époque, covered in rooms 11–18, followed by World War II and the Communist era in room 20. The last features newsreel footage and such items as a radio set dedicated to Stalin's 70th birthday, a scaled-down model of the Stalin statue torn down by crowds in 1956, and kitsch tributes to János Kádár, who reimposed Communist rule with a vengeance, but later liberalized it to the point that his successors felt able to abandon it entirely. Not to be missed are the propaganda films from the Horthy, Fascist and Stalinist eras, whose resemblance to each other makes the point.