Bricks living with us
Everyday art in the Veszprém Brick Museum
MúzeumCafé 18.
The most visited part of Veszprém’s construction museum is its brick section, the Tegularium. Museum director Klára Gy. Lovassy, gave me a guided tour. It turned out at the very beginning of our conversation that the number of visitors is rather low, as is characteristic of technical museums. Ms. Lovassy would naturally be pleased if every Hungarian went there at least once during their life. The place is mostly visited by pupils of technical schools, as well as construction professionals, collectors and, last but not least, by people from Hungary and abroad who happen to be interested in the subject. Last year the Museum of the Hungarian Construction Industry had 5638 visitors. The Tegularium, situated in one of the most beautiful parts of the Castle District, was the most popular, attracting 3570 people. In addition to the number of visitors, financing is another major issue. The director readily admits that they haven’t got a great deal. “We are supported by the Museum of the Hungarian Construction Industry Foundation, which was established in 1990, yet the insecurity as regards ownership is felt up to today. In the future the museum will belong to the National Office of Cultural Heritage, at least a decision about that has been taken, but the legal and administrative process is extremely slow.” Their hands are tied because the budget is small. Last year they managed to resolve the museum’s financial problems only with emergency relief from the National Office. Indicative of the situation is the fact that, during the ‘low’ tourist season the museum can only be visited with advance telephone registration, because during the winter the huge spaces of the Tegularium are only heated then. Some of the visitors are ‘connoisseurs’, since collecting stamped bricks is going through a revival. Collectors frequent demolition sites and buy or ask for them.