Technikatörténeti szemle 7. (1973-74)

MŰSZAKI SZAKMÚZEUMOK - Pál Vajda: Industrial Museums in Hungary (in English)

the Agricultural, Transport and Communication, and Water Management Museums within the framework of a Memorial Museum established in the Nagycenk manor of the Széchenyi family. His endeavours to develop Hungarian transport and communication have been started, in conformity with the requirements of his age, by the regulation of the water courses and by initiating steamboat operations: he was the one to organize the Danube Steamboat Association (DDSG) with its regular routes, and to commence the regulation of the lower section of the river Danube, in 1831. The regulation of the Tisza river vally as well as its flood control served not only water management purposes but also the safety of agricultural production. It was similarly István Széchenyi who has organized navigation over the Lake Balaton, the largest lake of Hungary, in 1846, in order to transform its shores intoa series of international level resorts. An important step in the development of navigation was the establishment of the first Hungarian shipyard in Óbuda the ancient 3rd district of Budapest (which was the very first such plant in Central Europe.) István Széchenyi, Royal Commissioner of Water Management from 1831 on, has been promoted to President of the Transport Committee in 1845, and to the position of Minister of Public Works and Communication in 1848—1849. This is when he composed a development program for transport and communication in Hungary, on the basis of which our railway network was then built up in the second part of the 19th century and, as a consequence, Buda, Pest, and Óbuda have merged to form Budapest capital, representing the economic and cultural centre of the country. Another of his symbolic creations is the permanent „Széchenyi Chain Bridge", connecting the two sides of the capital, with Th. Clark as the designer, and constructed finally by A. Clark. Near the Museum the 3600 m long Széchenyi Railway has been constructed, to display the vehicles and other relics of engineering history value of the narrow gauge railways slowly disappearing from Hungary. The quick spreading of specialized museums has made it evident that a central national museum was badly needed to display exhibits of a general character, and not restricted to the local history of industry, but with the special aim at disseminating knowledge in natural sciences and technical history, as well as their social relations at a universal level. On the 3rd of November 3th 1972, the Council of Ministers passed a decree on the reorganization of the Group of the Registration and Collection of Old Technical Values to become a National Museum for Science and Technology. The task of the Museum is to present the general development of natural sciences and technology, their role is shaping society, the interrelation of scientific knowledge and production, and to collect, elaborate and spread relevant material. In its work the Museum pays special attention to Hungarian aspects in the history of technology and science. Hungarians have taken a worthy part in the world development of technology and engineering. Several important inventions are attached to Hungarian inventors which still promote technological development. In the course of the past few years, individual objects, machines whole equipment even entire plants and workshops have been placed under protection and over 7000 objects have already been collected. The Museum's collection includes Ányos Jedlik's „unipolar inductor", the ancient form of today's dynamo, invented in 1861, and the world's first trans-