József Egry Memorial Museum (Egry József Emlékmúzeum) - Badacsony | Safari Park and Africa Museum (Afrika Múzeum és Állatkert) - Balatonederics | Zoltán Latinovits Memorial Exhibition (Latinovits Zoltán Emlékkiállítás) – Balatonszemes | Helikon Palace Museum - Festetics palace (Helikon Kastélymúzeum - Festetics Kastély) - Keszthely | Balaton Museum (Balatoni Múzeum) - Keszthely | Miniature Parliament (Csigaparlament) | Waxworks Museum (Történelmi Panoptikum) | Horrorarium – Museum of Torture (Kínzó Múzeum) | Villa Romana Baláca – Nemesvámos | Lajos Kunffy Memorial Museum – Somogytúr | Kinizsi dungeon (Kinizsi vár) - Nagyvázsony | Nagy Ferenc Gallery – Tab | Dolls Museum – Tihany | Benedictine Abbey and Museum (Tihanyi Bencés Apátsági Múzeum) - Tihany | Zichy Mihály Emlékmúzeum – Zala
Museums around Balaton
József Egry Memorial Museum (Egry József Emlékmúzeum) - Badacsony
In the village of Badacsony near the quay, on a promenade named after the painter, lies the József Egry (1883-1951) Memorial Museum. The house was once the summer cottage and studio of the painter who represented a totally unique style in his art which can be described as the art of featuring light in all its dimensions. The early paintings of Egry are displayed on the first floor of the house, the portraits and self-portraits are in the new building attached to the house and, in the main exhibition room the painter’s obsession, Balaton landscapes are on display.
Address: 8261 Badacsony, Egry József sétány 12.
Phone: (+36 87) 431-044
Safari Park and Africa Museum (Afrika Múzeum és Állatkert) - Balatonederics
Founded by the reputed hunter Endre Nagy dr., son of Balatonederics, who spent a part of his life hunting and collecting objects in Tanzania (Africa), the Africa Museum boasts a rich collection of artefacts including trophies and African ethnographic objects. The building was formerly the mansion of Nagy. Although not indigenous to the region, camels, buffaloes and zebras are resident of the Safari Park around the building.
Address: 8312 Balatonederics, Kültelek 11. (Next to Route No 71)
Phone: (+36 87) 466-105
Web: http://www.museum.hu/museum/index_hu.php?ID=688
Zoltán Latinovits Memorial Exhibition (Latinovits Zoltán Emlékkiállítás) – Balatonszemes
Permanent exhibition featuring the career and life of the famous Hungarian actor, Zoltán Latinovits (1931-1976) who was buried in Balatonszemes.
Address: 8636 Balatonszemes, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky u. 52.
Phone: +36 30 302 6733
E-mail: titkarsag@smmi.hu
Helikon Palace Museum - Festetics palace (Helikon Kastélymúzeum - Festetics Kastély) - Keszthely
At the beginning of the 18th century the town of Keszthely became part of the Festetics domain. In 1745 the family built a pompous palace and transferred their residence to Keszthely. The baroque Festetics Mansion – which was rebuilt and enlarged on several occasions - is the third largest palace in the country with 101 rooms, an ornate wrought iron gate, the surviving chapel and the Helikon Library with 86,000 volumes including many rarities. Beside the library room of the museum inside the palace, 16 other rooms are furnished with period furniture. Ornate firearms and the trophy collection of the Duke of Windischgrätz are displayed. Concerts are organized regularly in the music hall of mirrors, the former dining room of the palace, but there are night visits by candle-light and classical music, too. The beautiful French garden and the English park around the palace are under protection because of the various plant curiosities. In the back garden at the stall, old carriages are on display.
Address: 8360 Keszthely, Kastély u. 1.
Phone: (+36 83) 314-194
Email: info@helikonkastely.hu
Web: www.helikonkastely.hu
Balaton Museum (Balatoni Múzeum) - Keszthely
Leaving Fő tér southwards we can get to the neo-baroque building of Balaton Museum. All you may wish to know about Lake Balaton, including its formation, flora and fauna, the history of bathing culture, period costumes, waterborne traffic and archaeological and ethnographic memorabilia of 7,000 years, can be found here.
Works of painter János Halápy (1893-1960) are displayed in one room of the museum.
Address: 8360 Keszthely, Múzeum u. 2.
Tel/Fax: (+36) 83 312351
Email: info@balatonimuzeum.hu
Web: www.balatonimuzeum.hu
Open: 19/01-30/04: Tue-Sat 10.00-17.00;
02/05-31/10 Tue-Sun 10.00-18.00;
02/11-12/12: Tue-Sat 9.00-17.00
Puppet Museum – Folk Costumes and Folk Architecture (Népviseletes Babamúzeum és Népi Építészeti Kiállítás - Keszthely
Miniature Parliament (Csigaparlament)
Waxworks Museum (Történelmi Panoptikum)
Horrorarium – Museum of Torture (Kínzó Múzeum)
The Puppet Museum in Keszthely occupies the building of an old mill. It offers a rich array of cute puppets and dolls presenting folk costumes and clothes of citizens and craftsmen of the historical Hungary. The collection is a result of a public call for offers and was evaluated by a jury of ethnographical experts. The heads, limbs of the dolls are made of porcelain, but they have textile bodies.
Two sets of dolls come from Transylvania. Another 20 doll-dresses come from Pozsony/Bratislava (now in Slovakia), Beregszász/Beherovo (now in Ukraine) and Újvidék/Novi Sad (now in Serbia). Among them there are dolls from Kalotaszeg (now in Romania) with their special pearl needlework, and colourful costume of the "csángó" ethnic group.
On the third floor visitors will find and exhibition of houses, churches and farm-buildings of folk architecture. The buildings are illuminated by a special technique which reflects the atmosphere of period. Here we can meet more than three dozen painted and carved "Székely"-gates, which are very special to Székely-land, Transylvania. Alpine houses called "szála", mansions, shingled houses from Csíkföld and Háromszék (in Transylvania), reed thatched country house from Csököly (Somogy county), Svabian house from Nyitra, houses with veranda from Fertőd, mills and tread-wells complete the exhibition. In spite of the reduced scale, we can perceive the greatness of the churches and belfries from Szatmár and Máramaros. Moreover graves of priests who where buried behind the walls of the fortress church from Csíkkozmás, and who defended the flock from Mongol and Turkish army for nearly 500 years.
The museum shares the building with three other exhibitions which can be visited with individual entry tickets each: the so called ‘snail Parliament’, a miniature replica of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest made of snail shells; a waxworks exhibition featuring personalities of Hungarian history; and the ‘Horrorarium’, Museum of Torture.
The miniature Parliament building accurately reflecting the proportions of the original one, was made of 4,5 million (!) snail shells by an old lady, who devoted her life to this oeuvre. The dimensions of the original neo-gothic building in Budapest are the following: Length: 268 m; Height: 96m; Ground-space: 17.500 m2; 10 inner courts; 29 staircases (20 km long in total) and 691 rooms.
The Waxworks Museum features nearly 40 celebrities of different eras in Hungarian history: Hungarian kings and other sovereigns, generals, poets and authors, all in period costumes.
The Torture Museum presents torturing techniques and methods from the Middle Ages up to the present and from France to Japan.
Address: 8360 Keszthely, Kossuth u. 11.
Tel-fax: (+36 83) 318-855; Phone: (+36 30) 855 6533
Web: www.babamuzeum.mool.hu/;
www.csigaparlament.mool.hu/;
http://www.panoptikum.mool.hu/;
http://www.babamuzeum-keszthely.hu/kiallitasok/horror/kinzo.htm
Opening times: Winter: 10.00-17.00, Summer 9.00-19.00
Villa Romana Baláca – Nemesvámos
The excavated Balácapuszta villa-farm is the most prominent of the Roman settlements in the Balaton region. The main section of the villa consists of buildings with pillared inner courtyards (peristylium), which may have been the ornamented dwelling house of the landowner or his tenant. The frescos and mosaics are ranked among the highest quality art treasures of Pannonia. The building – each part of which dates from different periods, as well as the other dwellings and farm buildings, were inhabited from the 1st century to the end of Roman rule. In the exhibition, some of the mosaics and frescos can be seen at their original places.
Address: 8248 Nemesvámos-Baláca
Phone: (+36 88) 265-050
Web: www.vmmuzeum.hu
Open: From May to October, Tue-Sat: 10.00-18.00
Lajos Kunffy Memorial Museum – Somogytúr
Lajos Kunffy was a significant character of Hungarian painting at the turn of the 19th century. He was born in a wealthy family in Somogy County. After graduating as a lawyer, he studied at Simon Hollósy and the Julian Academy in Paris where he got acquainted with the Hungarian painter Rippl-Rónai. He obtained a studio in Paris but he spent the summers at home in Somogytúr.
His intentions, just like those of the painters of the school of Nagybánya who worked at the same period, was to show the beauty of natural views soaked in sunshine and air, in one word 'Plein-air'. The most important periods of his art were Kaposvár, Munich, Paris, Somogytúr, and Budapest. Kunffy exhibited his works in the Salon d'Automne in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.
He went to Madrid, Taormina, and Tunis to learn to colour his pictures, but he found the real solution and inspiration in Somogytúr: he discovered the longhaired, dark skinned gypsies in their motley cloths. The exotic strain that appeared in the art of Kunffy made him very popular in Paris. His art deepened with the representation of the festivities and country life of Somogy. His most important work is the 'Funeral of a Child'. He made good use of his interest in naturalism in his portraits and self-portraits.
He moved to Budapest in 1900. In his writings, he declared the freedom of modern art. The Association of Fine Art entrusted him with the organization of an exhibition of the works of French and American painters. He was awarded the French Legion of Honours. In 1943, he moved to Somogytúr where he began farming. Many of his happy pictures show the landscape of the area of Somogy, genre-paintings, or still lives. During World War II his home was rummaged, his pictures were scattered, and he lost his land. He retired and lived isolated in his cottage. His studio was transformed into a museum in his lifetime.
Address: 8683 Somogytúr, Árpád u. 22.
Phone: (+36 85) 327 171
E-mail: titkarsag@smmi.hu
Web: http://www.smmi.hu/kiallitasok/kepzomuveszet/kunffy/kunffyeml.htm
Open: From April to November: 10.00-12.00 and 14.00-18.00, From November to April 10.00-12.00 and 14.00-16.00, closed on Monday
Kinizsi dungeon (Kinizsi vár) - Nagyvázsony
A superb panorama opens onto the neighbouring countryside from the 29m high dungeon in Nagyvázsony. The medieval dungeon was built by the Vezsenyi family in the mid XVth century. As in those days the region was said to be peaceful, the tower primarily served residential purposes. As the family died out in 1472, King Matthias donated the estate to his general Pál Kinizsi. It was then that a castle with 4 towers was constructed and a palace with a chapel was erected in the inner court and the castle was fortified with a barbican (outer fortification of the castle entrance). The castle later changed hands on several occasions, and its walls were fortified during the XVIth century. The last battles were fought at its walls during the Rákóczi uprising and at that time the then proprietary Zichy family built their new residence on the other shore of the nearby brook so the dungeon ceased to be a residence; it was later used as a prison.
Address: 8291 Nagyvázsony, Vár u. 9.
Email: info@nagyvazsony.hu
Tel: (+36 88) 264-786
Web: www.kinizsivar.hu; www.nagyvazsony.hu
Nagy Ferenc Gallery – Tab
Tab is known for its Ferenc Nagy Gallery. The full oeuvre of Ferenc Nagy applied artist and sculptor can be seen in 6 rooms of the exhibition. Statuary, reliefs, horn chalices feature shepherd life, religious scenes and country life.
Address: 8660 Tab, Kossuth u. 9.
Phone: (+36 84) 320-416; (+36 70) 240 47 94
Web: http://www.tab.hu/index.php?face=5&con=128
Open: Tue-Sun 10.00-16.00 (Individual appointments possible)
Dolls Museum – Tihany
The rich array of toy dolls to be seen here is owned by a private collector, who spent 40 years with collecting German dolls dating from the period between 1840 and the 1920s. The puppets – with their porcelain faces, beautiful dresses, toys and furniture - duly reflect the lifestyle of the Biedermeier epoch.
8237 Tihany, Visszhang u. 4.
Phone/Fax: (+36 87) 448 531
E-mail: info@babamuzeum.hu
Web: http://www.babamuzeum.hu/
Open: from Easter to end October, daily 9.00-19.00, early and late season: 10.00-17.00
Benedictine Abbey and Museum (Tihanyi Bencés Apátsági Múzeum) - Tihany
The ancient village of Tihany was founded in the Middle Ages when King Andrew I founded here in 1055 a burial-place for the royal family and built a monastery, where Benedictine monks were settled. The earliest existing written document of the Hungarian language is the founding charter of the abbey. In the 13th century, the Abbey of Tihany was authorised to issue official deeds (locus authenticus).
During the Turkish occupation in the 16-17th century, the monastery, which has been transformed into a fortress, was demolished. It was rebuilt in the baroque style in the 18th century and became a symbol of Tihany. A few years ago, the Benedictine monks were again put in charge of the monastery and the Abbey Museum. The interior of the twin-towered baroque church was built by Abbot Ágoston Lécs and was decorated by wood-carver and cabinetmaker Sebastian Stuhlhof between 1754 and 1779. The furnishing and the gilded wooden sculptures are excellent pieces of the Central Europen baroque art, just as the frescos painted by Károly Lotz, Bertalan Székely, Lajos Deák-Ébner during the restoration works in 1889-1890. The interior was fully restored after the church was returned to the Benedictine Abbey in 1994.
The Romanesque crypt hall, which was built by King Andrew I at the time when the monastery was founded in 1055, is the only original royal burial place in Hungary that remained intact. Here lies the king, who died in 1060.
Viniculture around Balaton dates back to Roman times. Tihany became a significant wine-growing district at the time of the foundation of the monastery. The cellar with a unique double cross ground-plan and the classicist press-house were built at the northern shore of Belső-tó (Inner Lake) in 1822 for processing and storing the wine grown in the property of the Abbey. The winery has an excellent wine even today.
The former granary of the Abbey was built in the 19th century and played an important role in the community life of the village. The two storey building is rough-casted and divided by white ribbons and window-frames according to the local tradition. Presently it serves as a community centre.
Address: 8237 Tihany, I. András tér 1.
E-mail: apatsag.tihany@canet.hu
Phone: (+36 87) 538-200 Fax: (+36 87) 448-650
Web: www.tihany.osb.hu
Zichy Mihály Emlékmúzeum – Zala
Mihály Zichy (1827 Zala, Hungary; 1906 St. Petersburg) was a Hungarian painter and graphic artist, a significant representative of Hungarian romantic painting.
Following studies in Budapest and Vienna, Zichy spent the majority of his life, between 1847 and 1906 in Russia. He initially worked in the service of the court of the Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna then, from 1853 for a succession of four tsars, Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. Several reproductions, only a fraction of his works produced in Russia, are known in Hungary as his drawings and aquarelles were stored away from the public eye in the collection of the tsars. They have remained in Russian public collections to this day. Zichy was strongly attached to Russian culture and literature. Beyond his brilliant works for the tsars, he illustrated works of great Russian poets including, inter alia, Lermontov.
In 1874 he decided to leave the court of the tsars, thus beginning his Parisian period. Here he expanded his earlier late romantic drawings and produced his own giant graphical works, which are in fact drawings on the scale of paintings.
It is extremely rare in Hungarian art for the belongings of a 19th century artists to be relatively well preserved. However this is what happened to the memorial museum for Zichy, founded in his birth-place in Zala in 1927, and most of this private home’s collection survived the turbulent times following the Second World War. A selection of letters, 19th century works from Zichy’s library, sketches from the family collection and Georgian furniture from the artist’s collection are on display in an interior arrangement to illustrate the period, Zichy’s environment and personal world. The legacy is completed by the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery and that of the Rippl-Rónai Museum in Kaposvár. The exhibition thus presents the life and work of Mihály Zichy to a completeness never seen before.
Address: 8660 Zala, Zichy M. u. 20.
Phone: (+36 84) 320-607
E-mail: titkarsag@smmi.hu
Web: www.smmi.hu/kiallitasok/kepzomuveszet/zichy/zichymem.htm
Open: from April to November 10.00-18.00; from November to April Tue-Sun 10.00-16.00
