Postalmuseum Balatonszemes [antikvár]

Open1st May-30th September from Thusday - to Sunday 10 a. m. to 6 p. m.Our exhibition is accessible to the public in a historical building, constructed in Baroque style, in the last quarter of the 18th century. It belonged to the estate of the Hunyady family as an out-house (stable), which has been reserved in its original form. Inside it is covered by 6 copes, supported by two brick columns. The doorways and the apertures for the windows are in their original forms; you can see the door of the former hayloft above the entrance (s. dust). In 1767 the Council of Governor-general, the supreme organization of the Hungarian Post Office Administration of the time, established a relay station for post horses in the village of ,,Falu Szemes". From that time the building served as a stable for post horses. Its description is recorded in the dominial inventory of 1822; the copy of which can be seen here.The building was reconstructed in 1962, and from that time it houses the exhibition of the IVIuseum of Postal History.The exhibition From the Diligence to the Stage-coach" was opened in 1986. It shows the history of postal transport, which a long time involved the passenger transport too, and it was closely related to the development of road traffic.In the Middle Ages posta! service was effected by the organization of foot-carriers and dispatch-riders beir>g in the service of the reigning dynasties. Consignments of the civilian population were forwarded independently from the above in some territories by the cattlemen and live-stock dealers, wandering great distances in the country. (This service was called ,,butcher's post".) In the 15th century the local cartwrights made light coaches (kocsi") (1.).K6cs village, situated between Vienna and Budapest, was a relay station of the ,,fast peasants", i. e. the carriers using light coaches for transporting passengers and consignments. Foreign travellers have first met this vehicle in Kocs and have advertised this fast vehideas coach from Kocs". This nomination has come into general use in the European languages and it has got into the British Encyclopaedie" for the name of the above vehicle.1