Kosztolányi’s coffee cup or sumptuous entertaining on a shoestring
MúzeumCafé 16.
The Museum of Hungarian Trade and Catering is unique. The idea for such a museum was raised in the 19th century, though the present institution opened on the ground floor of the former Fortuna Inn on Castle Hill in 1966. One of the first directors of the museum, which reflects the traditions and displays items of Hungarian catering, was Imre Gundel, the latter assisting the preparation with objects and his thorough expertise. The museum’s new home is of a high standard. Textile wholesaler Jónás Hecht had the building in the courtyard of 15 Szent István Square designed probably by the young Béla Lajta. The word ‘hecht’ means pike in Hungarian, hence the Zsolnay ceramic fish motifs on the exterior façade. The two-storey building is covered by a glass roof which provided light for viewing the textiles. There are only a few small museums of trade in the world which have a similar concept, while a small exhibition centre about the history of Finnish catering operates in Finland. The Budapest museum has 125,000 objects, a similar number of written documents, 65,000 photographs and 23,000 recordings and films. Its library holds 22,000 volumes. Eighteen people are employed by the museum, including five museologists together with the director. Each year they hold up to a dozen exhibitions in the museum building and elsewhere. All this if financed from a centrally allocated budget of 120 million forints. Only a small sign on the gate marks the existence of the museum. This is not primarily a question of cost – due to a local authority ban, there cannot be a larger sign on the Art Nouveau building. As museologist Noémi Saly says: “Significant museum events can be organised without a considerable financial background with the help of other institutions and private collectors, the museum organised 225 programmes”.