In between change
The Hungarian jewish Museum before expansion
MúzeumCafé 9.
In 1896 on the occasion of the Millennium Exhibition, marking the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin, the Hungarian Jewish community realized it had relatively few valuable items from its historic past. For the occasion 90 objects of art were collected from communities and individuals, however they did not include any which could have proved the historic coexistence of Jews and Hungarians. This recognition presumably must have motivated the endeavour to establish a Jewish Museum. The Israelite Hungarian Literary Society (IMIT) embraced this initiative and at a meeting in 1909 decided to establish a museum committee. The result was that valuable items became part of the collection and today they provide the core element of the museum. Representing exceptional value, they include items of the Pest (33 objects in total) and the Old Buda (13) Chevron Kadaicha Israelite Community, and the Nagykanizsa (36), the Old Buda (25) and the Kaba (1) Israelite Societies. Their worth is indicated by the fact that in 1950 the Museum of Applied Arts listed them under individual protection, as well as a further 175 art objects belonging to the National Jewish Religious and Historic Collection as items of Hungarian cultural heritage. The first, continuously growing collection was housed in a rented apartment in Hold Street in 1913, and the first exhibition was officially opened in 1916. It was then, too, that the first catalogue describing the collection was published. The museum moved to its current location, the building by the Dohány Street Synagogue, in 1931. Jewish sacral objects and historic relics of the Hungarian Holocaust make up the majority of items in the present collection, which comprises three sections – works of fine arts and objects of arts and crafts, books and archives, as well as historic photographs. The collection is invaluable. The bulk of the collection is exhibited permanently in the first-floor rooms of the museum. The basic concept is to reflect the rites and holidays associated with Jewish life (Sabbath, Rosh Hashana, Sukkot, Seder, Purim). This is complemented by an exhibition recalling the Hungarian Holocaust. Guided tours and special programmes in foreign languages are also organised for tourists. Temporary exhibitions accompanied by catalogues are held on the second floor. The Jewish Museum’s present owner, the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, has been struggling with financial difficulties almost from the start. State support is granted for the federation’s budget, though the museum only receives a small fraction, sufficient to cover only the most important costs of operation. The collection has been growing mainly through donations. The museum is trying to acquire the financial resources for restoration work and preservation through applications. Its own income stands on insecure grounds as the institution is in a rather peculiar position. A monthly 9800 people visit the synagogue and the museum with one combined entrance ticket organised by the AVIV ticket office. At present four professionals are employed by the museum, a staff of eight are engaged with operational tasks, while one person does clerical work. The Hungarian Jewish Museum is currently undergoing changes and a new director has been appointed to head the institution.