Hungarian Open Air Museum [antikvár]

The 19th century is the period of emergence of ethnographical science in Europe. That is when the large ethnographic museums are established, among them the Ethnographic Museum of Budapest in 1872. By the end of the century, however, museum buildings seemed to be too small: a new demand arose to have rural iife seen on a iarger scale and in a more natural setting. This demand ied to the establishment of open air museums. The first in the series was built up in Stockholm in 1891 and was given the name Stensen after the district it occupied. The name has grown to be symbol and as such became integrated into the vocabulary of several languages, among them Hungárián, with the meaning of an open air ethnographic museum. Hungárián open air museums look back on a long tradition. The fundamental idea lies in the world exhibitions. The Wenna World Exhibition of 1873 was an important stage in the process of development. At this Exhibition, an international village was constructed including alsó Hungárián buildings. A few years later, at the Hungárián National Exhibition of 1885, fifteen peasant room interiors were shown. And, withín the framework of the millennium festivities of 1896 of the Magyar (Hungárián) conquest, the first truly Skansen-style museum. the Ethnographic Village, was set up. This consisted of 24 houses with originál furnishings, plus a wooden church. The buildings were copied from samples selected in various parts of the country, several of them the handiwork of local craftsmen. As for authenticity, this Village remained below today's standards, its scientific value is nonetheless remarkable. It was the first presentation on the national scale of vernacular architecture in Hungary. THE FOUNDATION OF THE NATIONAL OPEN AIR MUSEUM 2 j