Pécs – Fünfkirchen – Pečuh …
Space (time) map of a multi-ethnic town
MúzeumCafé 15.
Town without Borders, with which Pécs applied to become European Capital of Culture, was published in 2005. The multicultural character of Pécs was emphasised. Nine minority local authorities operate in the town. The teaching of German, Croatian and Roma language and culture is represented at all levels of education. This was the starting point for an exhibition outlining the multi-ethnic history of Pécs to the present – and beyond. The space-time map of the town identifies 20 locations – districts, communal spaces, buildings, residential blocks – which present the history and culture of different ethnic groups. For example, the ‘Puturluk’ district where during Ottoman rule Muslims, Christian Hungarians and Catholic Bosnian Croatians lived together, where there was a church and a mosque and where the traditions of Turkish tanning and its expressions in Turkish were used for centuries. Similarly tales are told about the glove-factory founded by a German-speaking family from Switzerland, which initially employed Czech workers, the church in Havihegy where mass is still celebrated in three languages on church feast days, and the Jakovali Hassan Mosque where Muslims again pray on Fridays. Thanks to the 19th-century Jewish community of Pécs, a German-speaking organ builder called Angster moved to the town from Jagodnjak, Croatia, to found a factory and build an organ for the synagogue. The stories of the 20 locations are presented with the help of archive photographs, sound recordings, films, art objects and texts. Besides the exhibition, public happenings are also being organised to call attention to the buildings and sites highlighted in the exhibition.