“ …centuries of tradition in appreciating antiquities…”
– Formation of the museum structure in Sopron and the situation today
MúzeumCafé 49.
Sopron’s unique history and its many monuments are often highlighted. No wonder that in the 1960s Sopron was the sub-ject of a ‘model project’ of Hungarian monument protection. Its museums were in a similar situation. The municipal museum was headed by an outstanding scholar, though after his death its independence came to an end. Today the Sopron Museum is again independent and is the most important cultural element in a town where culture has always been seen as important. The city fathers have included KristófLackner (1571–1631), who studied at the famous Padua University and later was the mayor for ten years. The town museum was among the first to be established in Hungary, during the upsurge of provincial museum foundations across the country, which began in the 1860s and relied on public subscriptions and local authority funding. Sopron’s population is barely 60,000, but in the number of monuments it stands in second place nationally, and it is also high up on the list in terms of the number of museums. As the monthly publication of the Sopron Museum puts it: “Sopron has centuries of tradition in appreciating antiquities.” This is manifested in the fact that the majority of museums were formed from private collections. Naturally, historical continuity has meant a lot. Preserving the Roman relics of Scarbantia has been undertaken since the 16th century. Among provincial museums, the first one to open after World War II was in Sopron, on 28 June 1947, with EndreCsatkai as director. The Central Mining Museum opened in October 1957, in the Esterházy Mansion in the town centre. Another museum, the Forestry Museum, is administered by the University of West Hungary’s Faculty of Forestry.