Museum of Hungarian Agriculture

The Hungarian Agricultural Museum, known until 1950 as the Royal Hungarian Agricultural Museum, is one of the most important museums in Budapest and a national specialized museum. It is located in the 14th district of the capital, in City Park (Városliget). Every year, several hundred thousand people visit the museum. According to some sources, it has the largest collection on agricultural history in Europe and is probably the world's first agricultural museum.

Over the years, the museum has showcased its holdings of 39 specialized collections in permanent exhibitions as well as annually changing temporary exhibitions. In 2016, the collection was estimated to include more than 400,000 objects and documents. It can rightly be considered “the richest public collection of Hungarian rural life.” The museum organizes programs, participates in the Night of Museums and Researchers’ Night, has published specialized literature for decades, and issues numerous book series on agricultural history in addition to individual works. For those wishing to study the objects and documents in more depth, a research service is available. The museum maintains a presence in various electronic media, collaborates with other museums, operates exhibition sites in the countryside, and its library—containing approximately 250,000 volumes and 180,000 periodicals (450,000 inventory items in total, including other digital media)—is the most significant collection of agricultural historical literature in Hungary.

The museum is housed in Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest, originally built as a temporary exhibition site for the Millennium celebrations in 1896 and, due to public pressure, was not demolished afterward. Three years later, it had to be torn down because of weak construction but was rebuilt by 1908 from sturdier materials, again due to public demand. Ignác Alpár, the original designer, created the final plans to ensure the future building complex met all museum requirements. According to reports from June 2025, the museum is planned to move from Vajdahunyad Castle to Gödöllő Castle by 2029.

The protected buildings, designed by Ignác Alpár in various styles, are part of the Vajdahunyad Castle complex. The museum uses the Renaissance-Baroque and Gothic building groups as exhibition spaces; it also contains storage for collections and research facilities. In designing the final museum building, Alpár connected the Renaissance-Baroque and Gothic wings externally through a so-called "connecting building" in the style of the Northern Italian Renaissance, creating a cohesive ensemble, and internally as one structure. The Romanesque building group is not open to the public and is used solely for research and storage purposes.

Within the castle, only the Ják Chapel is not under the museum's administration; it is managed by the Roman Catholic Church.

The interior of the museum was designed in 1912 by Dénes Györgyi.

The museum floor plan is available here.

Hungary has been an agricultural country for centuries, both independently and as part of the Habsburg Empire. The museum's origins trace back to the so-called Horticultural Museum. In the 1860s, the journal *Kertész Gazda* proposed expanding the pomological collection at the Hungarian National Economic Society (OMGE) into a museum. The public and Hungarian farmers supported the idea, and in 1869 the Horticultural Museum was founded. Subsequently, the OMGE began preparing a general Economic Museum, particularly incorporating valuable objects from contemporary world exhibitions. Preparations, including studies of foreign museums, were carried out by Izidor Máday, leading to the establishment of the Economic Museum in 1871.

The institute operated for 20 years but lacked suitable space to display its growing collection, and faced financial and staffing shortages. For these reasons, the OMGE transferred the collection to the Ministry of Agriculture in 1891. Between 1891 and 1892, Árpád Balás distributed the museum inventory to various agricultural schools at no cost. Many objects went to the Hungarian Royal Economic Academy in Magyaróvár, whose director was Balás Árpád at the time. Notably, the redistributed material did not later become the property of the Agricultural Museum.

For the Millennium celebrations in 1896, the OMGE revived the idea of a museum to honor Hungary's agricultural heritage and present it in a representative collection. In January 1896, the OMGE petitioned the Minister of Agriculture to organize and maintain the museum at state expense. The founding charter of the future museum was signed on June 20, 1896, by Agriculture Minister Ignác Darányi. The aim of the collection was defined as “to present the country's agricultural production and development in a permanent and modern museum.” The Ministry of Agriculture became the museum's sponsor.

After the Millennium celebrations, the "Historical Building Complex" designed by Ignác Alpár (today Vajdahunyad Castle) was assigned for the museum; the city symbolically leased the buildings to the museum for ten gold crowns. The museum opened on September 12, 1897. However, the building materials used were weak, and the structure became dangerous a few years later, leading to its closure and demolition on July 27, 1899.

After demolition, the museum moved to the so-called Stern House on Kerepesi Street (today Rákóczi út 72.), designed by Henrik Schmahl and demolished in 1956. At the same time, artists, museologists, the Ministry of Religion and Public Education, and Darányi advocated for the castle's reconstruction. Their efforts succeeded, and in 1900 the Hungarian government financed the new permanent castle. Reconstruction, again led by Alpár, began in 1902; by 1904 the Gothic and Renaissance-Baroque wings were completed, and by 1908 the Romanesque complex was finished. The museum moved back in 1904, before the Romanesque wing was completed.

After years of work, the museum reopened its new exhibitions to the public on June 9, 1907, in the presence of King Franz Joseph I, who visited Budapest for his 40th jubilee.

The Ministry of Agriculture tasked the museum with “displaying everything of interest and importance for Hungarian agriculture, from which domestic farming, horticulture, viticulture, or forestry can draw reliable and practical lessons.” During its first decades, the museum primarily functioned as a practical demonstration and training center, where visitors could learn about modern methods in nearly all areas of agriculture.

The museum's first golden age lasted until World War I. During this period, attendance steadily increased, sometimes exceeding 150,000 visitors per year. The museum was also successful at international exhibitions. However, World War I reduced financial resources, and some staff served in the military.

Following the political transition, like other comparable institutions, the Agricultural Museum faced budget cuts. In the 1990s, even the idea of relocating the museum from Vajdahunyad Castle was discussed. Two decades later, in 2014, the proposal resurfaced in connection with the Liget Project but has not been implemented as of 2024.

The museum remained popular with the public. In 1997, attendance was estimated at 128,000. In 1991, Vajdahunyad Castle was declared a protected monument.

The museum offers both permanent and temporary exhibitions as well as occasional events for visitors. Recent initiatives include appearances on blogs and Facebook. The museum website is continuously updated, including summaries of individual collections. Digital formats supplement rather than replace printed publications: new research results are continually published, as well as popular science works. Publications are available in the museum shop. Older book series are supplemented with new volumes (Agricultural Historical Studies), and new series have been launched (Catalogues of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum Collections).

Since 2013, the museum has managed objects and documents from the closed (but not demolished) Mill Industry Museum. From 2016, materials from the dissolved Meat Industry Museum have also been included.

In 2015, two previously restricted areas (Gate Tower, Apostles’ Tower) were opened. The same year, a bricked-up room was discovered containing 120-year-old original plans by Ignác Alpár.

In 2015, the museum's library merged with the National Agricultural Library and Documentation Centre. In 2019/2020, the books and documents from Vajdahunyad Castle were moved to the National Agricultural Library, 93 Attila Street, Budapest. The new combined institution operates under the name “Hungarian Agricultural Museum and Library – Agricultural Library.”

The museum operates several rural branch exhibition sites:

• Georgikon Main Museum Building — Keszthely
• Lajosmizse Farmhouse Museum — Lajosmizse
• Local History Museum (Cece) — Cece
• Blaskovich Museum — Tápiószele

The Hungarian Agricultural Museum performs multiple functions similar to other museums. Its primary task is to collect, preserve, research, and display tangible and written evidence of agriculture.

The museum's objects and documents are organized into collections, stored in depots, with only a portion exhibited. As of 2024, the museum has the following 39 collections:

The collections can be studied with written permission from museum management, referred to as the research service.

Monday, Wednesday: 9 a.m.–3 p.m.

The research regulations can be downloaded from the museum website.

The Hungarian Agricultural Museum presents its treasures in both permanent and temporary exhibitions. Due to the large number of objects collected over more than a century and the limited exhibition space, only part of the collection is publicly displayed; the majority is kept in storage.

Temporary exhibitions are regularly held on special occasions or anniversaries. More information is available on the museum website.

Researchers at the Hungarian Agricultural Museum dedicate themselves not only to collecting, maintaining, and restoring objects but also to intensive publication activities. Since its founding, the museum has issued numerous publications on the history of Hungarian agriculture.

The currently available publications can be viewed on the museum's website and purchased at the museum counter. Earlier books are often only available second-hand, many of them online through Hungary's largest electronic antiquarian platform.

A complete list of publications can be found in the study by Sándor Perjámosi: “120 Years of Publications. The Independent and Temporary Publications of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum” (In: Communications of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum 2016–2017, edited by the Hungarian Agricultural Museum, Budapest, 2017). From 1896 to 2017, the museum published over 260 works. Further overviews can be found in: “Important Publications of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum”, In: Agricultural Museology Booklets I., Hungarian Agricultural Museum, Budapest, 1980, pp. 92–95.

• S. Szabó Ferenc: The Sixty-Year-Old Agricultural Museum 1896–1956 (1956)
• (Ed.) Szabó Loránd: 90 Years of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum (1986)
• Fehér György, Istvánfi Gyula, Oroszi Sándor: The 100-Year-Old Agricultural Museum (1996)
• Kovács Judit, Csók Márta: Visit Us! Introduction to the Hungarian Agricultural Museum for Children (2000)
• Rosch Gábor, Fehér György: The Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park (2007)

• (Compiled by) Orbán László: The Trophies of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum (1961)
• Lippóczy Norbert: Grapes and Wine on Ex Libris (1970)
• Other exhibition catalogues, guides, and monographs, including topics on agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and hunting

• Gerencsér Miklós: Field Workshops (1981)
• W. Nagy Ágota: “...Using Time Wisely...” Szeder Fábián OSB 1784–1859 (2000)
• Erdődy Gábor: Lajos Kossuth. Leader in the Struggle for Democratic Civic Transformation... (2002)
• Csoma Zsigmond: Late Renaissance and Early Modern Gardens and Wines in Transylvania (2009)

• (Ed.) Oroszi Sándor: 1000 Years of Hungarian Agriculture. A Brief Overview (2000)
• (Ed.) W. Nagy Ágota: The Development of Hungarian Technical Language in Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, and Hunting (2003)
• (Ed.) Estók János: Hungarian Agriculture at National Exhibitions (2005)
• Other conference volumes up to 2023

• (Ed.) Tóth József: Hommage Alpár Ignác. Exhibition of the Hungarian National Association of Visual Artists (2007)
• Radics Boglárka: Grotesques, Chimeras, Water Spouts (2014)
• Museum in the City Park (2016, also in English)

• (Ed.) Csoma Zsigmond, Oroszi Sándor: The Letters of Máté Bereczki (1995)

https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/collection/muze_orsz_mezo/

The Hungarian Agricultural Museum has operated its own website for years: https://www.mezogazdasagimuzeum.hu/

. It provides information on current opening hours and admission fees, as well as short introductions to permanent and temporary exhibitions, smaller events, and summaries of past exhibitions. The museum's collections are also presented in detail.

Visitors can register for educational programs via the website or view spaces available for external events. The museum library and its branches (Georgikon Major Museum in Keszthely, Blaskovich Museum in Tápiószele, Lajosmizse Farm Museum, Folk House in Cece) also have their own websites.

The museum publishes its videos on YouTube and is present on the social media platform Facebook. A blog is provided for more extensive articles.

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The museum preserves a large number of objects and documents. In 1996, a museum publication estimated the number of objects at around 110,000, excluding documents. Over the following 30 years, this number has increased significantly through targeted collections and donations. In 2016, the number of objects was estimated at over 400,000, making the museum “the richest public collection of Hungarian rural life.”

Selection of Object Numbers:

Documents, Audio, and Film Recordings:

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• Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum
• S. Szabó Ferenc: A hatvanéves Mezőgazdasági Múzeum 1896–1956, Mezőgazdasági Múzeum, Budapest, 1956.
• (szerk.) Szabó Loránd: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum 90 éve, Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum, Budapest, 1986, ISBN 963-0171-73-2
• Szabó Lóránd: 90 éves a Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum – Kivonat a Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum 90 éves évfordulója alkalmából megjelenő tanulmányból In: Hírek a Mezőgazdasági Múzeumból. A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Tájékoztató és Műsorfüzete, VII. évfolyam, 1. szám, 1986. (a lábjegyzetes hivatkozások erre a műre történnek)

• A Magyar Királyi Mezőgazdasági Múzeum tájékoztatója, Budapest, é. n.
• A Magyar Királyi Mezőgazdasági Múzeum ismertetője, Budapest, 1907.
• A Magyar Királyi Mezőgazdasági Múzeum ismertetője, Budapest, 1913.
• A Magyar Királyi Mezőgazdasági Múzeum rövid tájékoztatója, Budapest, 1933.
• A Magyar Királyi Mezőgazdasági Múzeum rövid leírása, Budapest, 1927. (különnyomat a Kísérletügyi Közlemények XXX. kötete 6. füzetéből)
• Takács Imre: A Mezőgazdasági Múzeum rövid története, Budapest, 1959.
• (főszerk.) Balassa M. Iván: Magyarország múzeumai. Múzeumlátogatók kézikönyve, Vince Kiadó Kft., Budapest, 2001, ISBN 963-9192-93-7
• (összeáll.) Hernádi László Mihály: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei repertóriuma: 1962–1983, Szerzői kiadás, Pécs