Benkő Andrea: A Guide to Petőfi Literary Museum (Budapest, 2009)
The Permanent Exhibition
THE PERMANENT EXHIBITION Petőfi Literary Museum was established in the city centre in the Károlyi Palace, which was built in the middle of the 18th century and rebuilt in neoclassical style at the end of the 18th century. It was named after the poet Sándor Petőfi (1823-1849), whose name was synonymous with poet and is the most important representative of Hungarian literature in the classical world of literature headed by the name of Goethe. Sándor Petőfi was a son of'poor parents'-this was how he described himself in the autobiography which was to be an introduction to the German language publication of his works. His father was a butcher. Sándor was born at Kiskőrös, a small town in the middle of the Hungarian Plain. For him it was this landscape, the Hungarian steppe, 'the Plain', that had such an impression on him in his childhood: a landscape which inspired him to experience freedom, independence and life free from limitations. In the first exhibition room, the white walls remind us of village houses and mansions. We can see a romantic's attempts at self-realisation, his failing military carrier, and objects from his life as an actor. During this time, he was writing his poems and caused a real revolution in lyricism. His poems echoed the rhythm of Hungarian folk songs, immediately becoming part of folklore, broke the Feudal monopoly of culture, and forecast the same for politics. Every rank and file conservative-minded man of letters plotted against him, and in 1845-1846 Petőfi went through a period of Byronic hatred of man and the world of the Romantics. In the second room of the exhibition are the social and topographical media in which, after 1846, Petőfi undisputedly became a leading personality. On his 24th birthday he finished the manuscripts of all the poems he had written up to that point: the volume was an unprecedented success. In the second quarter of the 19th century, the Age of Reform, the cultural institution of civic Hungary, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the National Theatre were established and periodicals requiring many works, both of poetry and prose, flourished. All of these establishments were connected with Budapest - which was at that time three autonomous cities - situated on the banks of the River Danube. The three cities were first united in 1848. Budapest became the fastest developing city of the 19th century. To meet the new demands of readers, authors and publicist, who made a living by the pen, replaced the man of literature living in the countryside in his mansion, for whom writing was purely a leisure activity. The young among them formed a group around Petőfi, who was the first Hungarian poet to earn a living and support himself solely by his poems. Following the example of Giovine Italia and Junges Deutschland they organised the interest protection of writers, and after studying the French Revolution the organisation made their aim a thorough transformation of Hungary, even if it took a revolution. We can see their characters, become acquainted with their works and even visit their favourite meeting place, the Pilvax coffee house. Petőfi 's marriage also demonstrates a reaction against convention: he married his love after a yearlong fight for her. His revolution of lyricism also extended to family life, and he has given us some of the most beautiful pieces of matrimonial poetry. Their home - into which we also get an insight - was the result of his hard work as a poet. It was no more than the interior a petit bourgeois would create in his home. Sándor Petőfi's atilla (Hungarian braided gala coat), in the 1840s 25
