In May 2017, the Government made a decision concerning the future of the Hungarian Museum of Science, Technology and Transport, and the revision of the precious concept.
This decision offered a great opportunity for the institute: the main exhibition place of the Museum of Transport may now be realised on a new location, on a larger site, this way making the exhibition of the full spectre of our collection possible in a proper environment. The selection of the new site is in progress. We are mostly considering brownfield investments on sites which served transport functions earlier or in one way or another are connected to the history of transportation. The historical hall of the Museum of Transport will be re-built in Városliget, however, without implementing the underground expansion that was planned to be accomplished earlier. The building – according to the Government Decision in May 2017 – will not be reborn as the Hungarian Museum of Transport but as a primary exhibition space of technical museology, presenting the inventions of Hungarian inventors in a new and innovative way.
Temporarily, the Museum of Transport does not admit any visitors but we endeavour to serve the public with exciting programmes, temporary exhibitions, and road shows – this way those who are interested in the history of transportation still can get in touch with our collections during this present interim situation. While the main building is closed, our member institutions and several other exhibition places are open without interruption with up-to-date temporary and permanent exhibitions, this way filling in the transitory period until the new main museum building is opened. We endeavour to harmoniously bridge this temporary span of time, hence our technical-themed member institutions – besides the history of technology – also present the history of transportation (as connected to their own exhibitions and circle of collectors). In Budapest, the Ábrahám Ganz Foundry Collection (the building of which was erected as a wheel casting foundry in 1858, and now is an industrial monument under heritage protection), the Technical Study Stores, with its special exhibition spaces which present a wide range of pieces from the field of technical museology (such as the URAL-2 computer, the so called “Gömböc”, and astronomical devices), and the Museum of Electrical Engineering in the heart of the city (which once operated as a transformer station) are waiting the visitors who are keen on technical and transport collections. In the country the Museum of Chemistry in Várpalota, the Museum of Aluminum Industry in Székesfehérvár, and the Metallurgical Collection in Miskolc also welcome visitors.
Beside our member institutions we are also present in other exhibition places as well: the Parád Carriage Museum (one of the most significant exhibitions presenting carriages), the Millennium Underground Museum at Deák tér (which is hosted by the emptied tunnel passage of the millennium underground), the Nagycenk Railway Open-Air Museum, or the Kossuth Museum Ship are only a couple of alternatives which are open to visitors throughout the year with permanent and temporary exhibitions and exciting programmes. Aeropark is an outstanding exhibition place which re-opened its gates in June 2017 with new pieces at a new location – the major part of the collection exhibited here belongs to the Hungarian Museum of Transport. Another significant exhibition space is the Hungarian Railway Museum which is one of the biggest interactive railway-themed memorial park in Central-Europe. Railway-related objects, locomotives, and day coaches in a substantial part belong the Museum of Transport as well.
During the summer we also offer high-quality museum educational workshops in our member institutions and exhibition places. On Tuesdays the “Store-House” workshops in the Technical Study Stores, on Wednesdays the “Power-Unit-Workshops” in Aeropark, finally, on Thursdays, the “Workshop of Uncle Ganz” welcomes everyone in the Ábrahám Ganz Foundry Collection.
For further information please visit: www.kozlekedesimuzeum.hu, or the Facebook pages of the Museum of Transport and our member institutes.