What followed after the end
National Cultural Heritage reused
MúzeumCafé 51.
One quotation summarises the fate of listed monuments in Hungary since the mid 20th century: “This chapter in history reflects such a powerful anti-cultural attitude that we can only recall it with horror.” There has been reconstruction, dispersal, demolition, re-painting, and the deprivation of ornamentation, parks, economic background and furnishings. The discussion focussed on listed buildings, which have by today completely lost their original functions. Participating were art historians FerencDávid, senior staff member of the Art History Institute of the Academy of Sciences’ Humanities Research Centre, and JózsefSisa, director of the same institute. The discussion took place in the Academy’s Országház Street building, whose fate is linked to the theme, since originally it was a monastery and a convent. Later, different offices took possession. Before the war the Interior Ministry was accommodated here, after which institutes of the Academy moved in. The Humanities Research Centre was established in 2012 and all its related bodies were housed in the building. At the end of the 1940s, Hungarian mansions had become ownerless, many owners having left Hungary. They were nationalised and occupied by a variety of institutes such as hospitals, nursing homes and children’s homes. In the 1990s the buildings were deemed inappropriate, and the majority of institutes moved out. The mansions represent a huge stock of buildings and although various projects were launched after 1957, in reality it was very difficult to do something with the volume of properties. The underlying problem was that the major political and economic changes deprived the mansions of their economic background. In Britain there is a non-government body, The National Trust, which administers and looks after most of the country’s mansions. It only takes responsibility for a mansion if it has an economic background, typically agricultural land. If there is no income-producing basis to support the maintenance, then it is not accepted. In relation to the furnishings of mansions in Hungary, there was a positive endeavour. A Government Commission for Abandoned Property was quickly formed, and battling against destruction assessed the stock, but its recommendations only sometimes produced positive action, and even then led only to the protection of some of the most valuable properties by storing them in museums. Only a small part of the documents have been analysed so far, but publications in this connection already exist. Today almost desperate and often inefficient attempts are made to recall the furnishings of mansions and the lifestyle of their owners – mainly unsuccessfully, given that most of the relevant objects are missing.