Kovács Zsuzsa: Göcsej Village Museum. Exhibition Guide (Zalaegerszeg, 2008)

EXHIBITION GUIDE frozen historical times the settlements started on their way to modernization in the 1950s-60s. Within a decade, many modern brichouses with tiled roofs were built replacing the old loghouses. Thatched roofs disappeared quickly and the picture of the villages suddenly changed in the most archaic Hungarian county. Seeing this quick change going on, and almost at the last moment, Dr. Imre Szentmihályi, the founder of this village-museum, set off on a collection trip. He wanted to save a piece of the traditional peasant world and show it to future generations. In his collecting work and later on in the setting up of the museum his closest colleagues were János Tóth, an architect, and Jenő Barabás, an ethnographer. Many university and high-school students, and ethnographer colleagues helped him in the last stage of the job - the further collection of objects needed for the interiors and in their renovation. Finally on 20 August 1968, as a result of their combined efforts, the Göcsej Village Museum was opened. Community workers in new museum under construction 3