Buda Castle, Museums, Exhibition Spaces: Half Empty

A Not Fully Complete Overview, With Both Outstanding and Woeful Examples

It is often said that the reason for reconstructing the Buda Castle Palace as it was when designed by AlajosHauszmann is that there are not enough sights in the Castle area. Yet there are many museums and galleries, though the majority of institutes established in the 60s and 70s have not seen major developments in recent decades. Apart from publicly owned museums, there are both very poor and exemplary private initiatives. Almost everywhere there are complaints about the lack of finance and coordination, though with several hundred million forints there could be a flourishing museum life here. The largest and most frequently visited museum is the Hungarian National Gallery. Last year the Budapest History Museum (BHM) saw an increase of visitors of about 20%. In recent years it has almost completely revitalised its permanent exhibition, including a new display about the history of the palace. The BHM could be one of the great beneficiaries of Castle reconstruction. The nearby Semmelweis Museum of Medical History has done well with the opening of the Castle Garden Bazaar, although only the museum’s façade has been renovated, unfortunately not its exhibition. Nevertheless, its visitor numbers have increased. Although the Matthias Church, which houses an ecclesiastical history exhibition, heads the list of visitor numbers, the parish seems not to regard as important supplying any information about the display on its website. The least visited is the Museum of Military History, even though every year it has a dozen temporary exhibitions and in the past decade the permanent display has been refreshed. Since 2014 a new competitor has appeared among the larger museums and galleries, the Castle Administration Nonprofit Co., which belongs to the prime minister’s office. It operates galleries in the so-called Guardsmen’s and Southern Palace, as well as the Army General Headquarters. A major part of the Palace’s public spaces are managed by the Administration Co. Museums and visitors often complain that due to its events, often inappropriate for the area, it is difficult to access the public collections, especially in summer. Not one public institute could reckon with help or support for its functioning from the company. In fact, with its own projects it has become a rival to the other museums. Although the army headquarters has been reconstructed as an exhibition space, its function has not been determined. Currently it serves as a storage site for construction of the PM’s office and it is feared that it will be used by the office later. The Bazaar’s two end ‘palaces’ can simultaneously house exhibitions, which are organised using special state funding.