Folia archeologica 49-50.

Kovács Tibor: A múltat idézve, előre tekintve emlékezzünk! 200 éves a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum

EVOKING THE PAST WHILE LOOKING TO THE FUTURE 13 EVOKING THE PAST WHILE LOOKING TO THE FUTURE The 200th anniversary of the Hungarian National Museum No matter how absurd it may sounds, it is nonetheless a truism that it would be infinitely easier to simply recollect past achievements and to evoke the museum's role in Hungarian and European archaeology during the 19th and the early 20th century on the occasion of the bicentennial of the foundation of the Hungarian National Museum. However objectively one looks at past events, it is difficult to face the restrictions and limitations imposed on the institution's authority. Still, the momentary successes brought by the efforts to restore the museum's nationwide authority give cause for optimism. The period of European history known as the Enlightenment, the emergence of nation states was followed by the creation of impressive collections - libraries, archives and museums - that incorporated various relics of a nation's past. Hungary was still part of the Hapsburg Empire when, in 1802, the institution embodying the unity of museum and library was born, at a time when the progressive ideals of the European bourgeoisie blended with the Hungarians' efforts to push through various reforms and attain their national independence. In contrast to Europe where similar institutions, such as the British Museum and the Louvre, were founded by royalty, the Hungarian National Museum was founded by an aristocrat, Count Ferenc Széchényi, who offered up his private collection, assembled with excellent taste and erudition, to the nation. Perhaps due to their different origins, the role and the activity of the national museums is the subject of heated debates the world over. Depending on the geographic environment, the social structure and, not least, on the nature of national traditions, a number of differences can be perceived in this respect. The museum ideal of the 18th-19th centuries too has changed radically. Even so - or perhaps exactly because of this - the nature and activity of these national museums is decisively influenced by the balance of tradition and modernity, and whether this balance is optimal, precarious or has hardened into a rigid duality. The archaeological activity of the Hungarian National Museum has from the very beginning followed the main European trends. The achievements and successes in this field have often approached and, in rare instances as for example at the close of the 19th century, attained the highest international standards, especially in the field of scholarly publications, marked by the works of Floris Rómer, Ferenc Pulszky, Imre Henszlmann and József Hampel. The archaeological activity of the museum was influenced by two major, but essentially unrelated events. The loss of a significant portion of Hungary's territory after 1920 meant that the research of various geographic and historical regions became the task of not one, but several states. At the same time, the archaeological collections of the Hungarian National Museum became the core collections of several Central European countries. (As a matter off act, the museum still fulfils this role to a certain extent.) Other limitations on the museum's activity were imposed by the law-decrees of