Szabadfalvi József: Írások Herman Ottóról és a Herman Ottó Múzeumról (Borsodi Kismonográfiák 25. Miskolc, 1987)

the 19 county museum organizations. Its collection has national significance, its public education activity shows individual features and its research is remarkable. Herman Ottó Museum's publications have been steadily growing. The museum works as an institution system located in several buildings. Let us look through first the history, namely its 80 years development and its present activity. The idea of founding a museum in Miskolc rose already in 1884. It was urged by the archeological excavations initiated by Ottó Herman in the 1890s. The Museum was founded by Borsod-Miskolc Society for Public Education Society that had worked since 1892 and changed its name to Borsod-Miskolc Public Education and Museum Society. The museum was run by a Museum Committee. The town handed over three rooms of the school in Papszer street to the Museum when it was established. This possibility arose when the Protestant secondary school moved in the newly built school nearby (at present Zrínyi Secondary School). Though the Society for Public Education and Museum Society planned already in 1903 to build up a new and more suitable building called "Palace" that time. This institution had the name Borsod-Miskolc Museum for more than 50 years. It was only in 1953 when the Museum took Ottó Herman's name. The Museum as shown by its name, was the central museological institution in county Borsod and collected historical, archeological, ethnographical, art and scientific values in this region. It was opened to the public on 26th October, 1902. On its first exhibition - as the printed catalogues indicate - 3252 objects were placed on show in the specimen cases and another nearly 3000 remained in the store rooms. The stock of the library contained 733 volumes three years after the Museum was founded that must have been the richest state library in Miskolc in those days. The subjects of the exhibition in 1902 were the following: coin and diploma collection and scientific collection. In addition to this, archeological, applied art historical and guild historical relics were also displayed. The animal world of Borsod County was demonstrated in a diorama 7 m long, 3 m wide and 3.5 m high in the middle of the big hall. The enrichment of the Museum was recorded by the Committee in 1904 as follows: "With grounded pride we can tell that our Museum has got so rich in 4 years since it was established that it can compete with many museums with long decades history for the quantity as well as for the value of objects. The first exhibition was regularly open from 1902 to 1914 except the winter months then after the war it opened again and kept 210