A Herman Ottó Múzeum Évkönyve 38. (1999)

CSERI Miklós: A harmincéves Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum Szentendrén

In the past decades the methods of constructing open air museums, the practice of relocating the selected buildings have developed in Hungary too. Result of this complicated and complex procedure, is the building, respectively the whole „village" or region as they appear to the visitor, demonstrating the specific characteristics of a past civilization. So far, we have completed the Upper Tisza Region (1974), Kisalföld (1987), the Western Transdanubia regions (1993) and the construction of the group of buildings of the market town in the Great Hungarian Plain is fast progressing. Besides the museum building, demands have arisen regarding the renewal of the museum. The enlargement of its scientific idea is also necessary in geographical sense (folk architecture of the Hungarians in the Carpathian-basin) thematically (involving other classes of society) and also in the age (the architectural demonstration of the middle and end of the 20

th century). The renewal of the available infrastructure became also necessary. The museum will be enlarged by a new up-to-date service building between 1998-2001. The museumdevelopment has also been speeded up: the Balaton-Upland Region with its 27 buildings will be ready by the time of the central festival in 2000. The modernization of the infrastructure of public service, transport, meals and programmes was also necesarry. In consequence of the above, by the end of the century, the Hungarian Open Air Museum is moving on in speeded time and with powerful dynamism in order to become an European level museum managing not only the matters of protecting the national cultural heritage but important educational and cultural tasks too. Miklós Cseri Uli