A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - SISA Béla: Folk houses

BÉLAS1SA FOLK HOUSES Research into folk architectural monuments was intensive as early as the end of the last century in Hungary, and a so-called millennium village was constructed for the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar conquest. The counties of historic Hungary funded the construction of the buildings. They did not resettle, but built these houses in Budapest, which were unfortunately dismantled when the exhibition was closed. The early village research did not achieve concrete results that would have allowed the building of folk houses, but 1932 saw a significant breakthrough when the 'Palóc' house was opened in the town of Balassagyarmat. This house was also partly resettled, but it could already be called restoration since the elements and materials of an existing house were used and it was not built as a copy. The old principle was also followed in the town of Veszprém, to the north of Lake Balaton. When the 'Bakony' house was built, an existing building was not resettled but a brand new building was constructed and its interior rooms furbished. The years went by, and many attempts were made to establish a village museum or a folk house in many places, but no results were achieved. The folk monument as a concept is not old, but the expression was used as early as the 1930s, although there is a significant difference in defining these buildings in the countries of Europe. Hungary was in a fortunate situation. Professor Varga concretely defined the concept of a folk monument and Dr. Iván M. Balassa provided the definition for a folk house. To put it simply, edifices connected to rural architecture and peasant culture are called folk houses. A folk house can be defined by a building which is saved in its original place and furbished as it used to be, and naturally edifices of various small trades are included, too. In Hungary the Law passed in 1949 made it possible for folk architectural monuments to be protected and included in a registry statistically. The first modern monument restoration is connected with the name of Ferenc Mendele. The so-called Schumacher house was restored on the basis of his plans in Nagyvázsony, near the northern shore of Lake Balaton. A very important era ended with this first monument restoration in the present sense of the word, which was managed by the experts of the National Inspectorate of Monument Protection and carried out by its own skilled masters. In Hungary in the 1960s and 1970s, 30 to 40 folk houses were brought into existence , and at the same time the folk architectural profession" split into two. This was because for the buildings that were resettled into village museums, even if they were registered monuments, their monument protection ceased and they were regarded and handled as museum objects at the place of their resettlement. The protection of buildings which remained in situ continued to be the task of the National Inspectorate for Monument Protection. The majority of folk architectural monuments are houses. The buildings of small trades are far fewer in number. There was a change in the way of life in the last 20 and 30 years and the most valuable buildings could only be saved if they achieved increased protection and a complete professional renovation enabled them to operate as folk houses for the community as a museum. A large-scale project was undertaken in 1974. It meant that the Council of Ministers provided a significant sum for the disposal of the Inspectorate of Monument Protection each year for ten years. The special