Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 18-19. (Budapest, 2000)
Semmelweis's Birthplace - the Home of the Museum
His family and the years of study Ignác F. Semmelweis was born on July 1st 1818, in the above described house, which accommodates today the Semmelweis Museum. The Semmelweis family did not belong to the ancient families of Buda. The history of the family can be traced back to the middle of the 16th century in historical Hungary, according to the occurrence of their name. They lived in small villages in an area that had been called Western Hungary, which became part of Austria after the Great War and was given a new name: Burgenland. The name Semmelweis appeared in Márczfalva (Marz), Szikra (Sieggraben), Kabold (Kobcrsdorf), Felsőpéterfa (Obcrpetersdorf) and in Kismarton (Eisenstadt), today all in Austria. They — just lik c József Hyrtl (1811-1894) or Ferenc Liszt — originated from a distinct group of Germans called the Hin z$, (German: Haenzen, Hungarian: hienc), which were quite different from the rest of the German-speaking population of Hungary. According to some views, the Hintzs are believed to be descendant of Charlemagne's Franks, who had settled in Pannónia some centuries before the Hungarian Conquest. In reality it is more probable that they were fractions of Bavarian and Alemann tribes oncc wandering on the East side of the Alps. József Semmelweis, (1778-1846) the father of Ignác Semmelweis was born in Kismarton. He moved to Buda and was granted the citizen-rights in 1806. In the same year he opened his grocery store, The White Elephant, in the Mcindl-house in Tabán (seat of the Museum). He had been running his store in this house for 17 years (between 1806 and 1823), and he had rented a flat for himself and later for his family at the same place. He must have been a prosperous young man, because in 1810 he married Terézia Müller, the daughter of the famous, well-to-do coachbuilder, Fülöp Müller. József Semmelweis's financial affluence is well demonstrated by the number of houses he owned. In 1823 they moved into one of them, apparently which stood on the opposite side of the street and this house accommodated their shop as well. They had ten children, including a stillborn baby. All the boys attended school. At the age of eleven, Ignác Semmelweis, having concluded his elementary schooling, began his studies at the Royal Catholic University Gymnasium up in the Castle Hill. The school was located next to the Michael Tower on today's Hess András Squere. Later the school was handed over to the Piarist Order and so he had the last years (forms V and VI) at a time when these excellent educationalists had taken over the institution. His final school certificate marks him as an eminent, who was the second best, out of the sixty students in his class, who, nevertheless 'was competing with the best'. We ought to esteem the value of his certificate, since he attended one of the best institutions of the country. A number of famous people had received their secondary education at this school, e.g. the politician Baron József Eötvös, the jurist László Szalay, and the pathologist Lajos Arányi. Their teachers were probably the best instructors in Hungary. Even if we bear in mind that the educational system was 16
