Veres László - Viga Gyula szerk.: A Herman Ottó Múzeum műkincsei (Miskolc, 1999)

A HERMAN OTTÓ MÚZEUM 1899-1999

HERMAN OTTÓ MUSEUM 1899-1999 M

ost of the provincial public collections in Hungary were founded by comitate. In many places museums were formed in the frames of archives, under their auspices, until the development made it necessary to divide the museums from the archives as independent institutions. The museum of Comitat Borsod and City of Miskolc was born on the citizens' initiative. In the second half of the 19th century in Miskolc a strong public cultural movement has started which in 1893 led to the formation of the Borsod-Miskolc Association for Public Culture. This associaton was soon widened as Borsod-Miskolc Association for Public Culture and Museum. In its statutes accepted at the beginning of 1899 three goals were determined: the foundation of a library, a picture gallery and a museum. To support these goals it was decided to form 3 committees. The museum comittee accepted its regulations by the end of 1899- According to it, 6 museum sections were formed: history and archaeology, geography and ethnography, zoology, botany, mineralogy, fine arts, library. The institution formed in 1899 under the name of Museum of Borsod-Miskolc and started to function in 5 rooms of the former Calvinist Gymnasium (high school). As a result of enthusiasm of citizens of Miskolc and comitat Borsod in 1901 the museum had already owned 5 177 objects. The first exhibition was opened at the end of 1902. The most spectacular part of the exhibition was the paleonthological collection, that involved a 332 cm long mammoth tusk. The success of the exhibition inspired the citizens and institutions for further gifts. In 1903 the town of Mezőkövesd presented the ethnographic collection of a complete interior decoration of & Matyó room. The village of Megyaszó made enriched the collec-