A debreceni Déri Múzeum állandó természettudományi kiállításai. Ásványok világa. Tájunk madarai (Debrecen, 1999)

World of the Minerals the people of Debrecen always showed great interest in minerals' world. We can prove this interest with documents since the beginning of the 19

,h century. In 1902 at the foundation of the Town Museum of Debrecen, the founder - Arthur Löfkovics - donated minerals too. In 1920 18

th October, the day when Frigyes Déri came the first time to Debrecen to donate his very valuable collection to the museum, which was named after him later. This marvellous collection con-tained mineralogical and paleontological materials, too. Unfortunately the mineral collection was destroyed during the vicissitudes of the history. Our permanent exhibition of The Mineral Kingdom was opened in 1984 based on the donations of the members of the Mineral Collectors Club Pál Szőnyi. Since then our collection grew by mineral collecting in the field, by purchase and with further donations. Our exhibition can show the most beautiful minerals of Hungary and of the Carpathian basin in the six show-case available. Under the relief map showing the places of occurrence there is an exceptionally beautiful acicular aragonite as the beginning of the exhibition. It continues with the minerals of the Zemplén mountains: chalcedonies, quartz crystals and mauritzite named after Béla Mauritz, formed in andesite alveoles. There are rockcrystals, opals, wood-agate from the region of Megyaszó and Telkibánya, jaspers, chalcedonies, agates from Erdöbénye and Erdő-horváti and obsidians and its tiny granulous variety, the marecanite. In the next show-case we placed the inheritance of Tibor Maklári (1928-1996) containing exceptionally beautiful minerals. The Pro Museo Déri decorated Mr. Maklári collected minerals from Romanian, Transylvanian quarries but there are minerals from 28