Almásy Mansion, Tarnaméra

Almásy Mansion is a prominent monument in the village of Tarnaméra, Heves County.

History

The Almásys built it around 1780 in Baroque style. It was purchased from the Almásys by the Schossberger family. After World War II it was nationalized and a primary school operated in it. During renovation frescoes were found under the plaster. It was declared a protected monument. For its renovation – besides the Tarnaméra Municipal Government – the National Heritage Protection Directorate (OMF) also contributed. It stood empty and unused for more than a year. It was then earmarked to become the Police Museum. Its rental did not go smoothly. Among the residents were individuals who, ignoring reality, hoped that millionaires would come, buy it or make use of it. They held conferences, believing the village would receive a lot of money. It turned out that rich people would not come here to golf or ride horses. Even in Budapest’s neighboring Fejér County there are five renovated castles standing empty. In Hungary there are 15 castles without function, most of them in the economically developed Transdanubia. After some turmoil they rented it and, without state support – on 31 August 1996 – opened Central Europe’s only pure‑profile Police Museum.

Exterior

The castle is a high‑ground‑floor, rectangular‑plan, mansard‑roofed, late Baroque building, with later alterations. On the main façade, from the high ground floor, a semi‑circular staircase leads down to the park between every two windows with a door. Segmental‑arched windows are characterized by bent sills and eyebrow decorations. Windows open from the cellar to the ground level. Between the two staircases a double‑leaf door leads to the cellar. Perpendicular to the mansard roof, double shed roofs are attached. A narrow cornice separates the high ground floor from the cellar. The rear façade is also ornate, with a 3‑2‑3 axis, and in its central risalite two doors lead to a classicist iron‑grated balcony. The balcony rests on a stone wall pierced by three semi‑circular openings. Here also a narrow cornice separates the two levels.

Interior

The basement rooms are vaulted with ribbed groin vaults. In the middle, a three‑door space with Czech‑glass vaults rests on two smooth‑sawn, cylindrical, plinthed columns. Its entrance opens from the middle of the main façade. The high ground‑floor rooms have turtle‑vaulted ceilings. The large hall with a coffered ceiling is divided in two by a triumphal‑arch‑like arcade. On the right and left sides of the large hall there are two pairs of adjoining plastered rooms. Behind the axis aligned with the arcade, there are four adjoining frescoed rooms. The frescoes show the builder János Almásy and his wife, as well as the four seasons, the four walls, in a symbolic manner.

The Museum

On 31 August 1996 a historical exhibition of the gendarmerie and police was opened in the castle. The collection of objects, rich in memories, was gathered and arranged thanks to the work of Dr. István Gulyás, veterinarian, and Dr. Ottó Francsics, retired colonel, then chief of police of the city of Heves. A local‑history exhibition also found a place in the building.

In 2002 the exhibition material was taken over by the Police History Museum of the National Police Headquarters operating in Budapest. Thus, since 2002 the Tarnaméra castle has served as the exhibition venue of the Police History Museum. In the entrance hall a world map welcomes visitors, on which a multitude of small flags indicates that police organizations, based on professional contacts, friendships and cooperation, network the continents of the Earth. It shows which countries’ uniforms are visible, as well as the member countries of the International Police Association (IPA). The police of Hungary (as the world map also shows) is, in view of recent international events, not only geographically but also through the cooperation of these organizations partly at the centre, with an outstanding foreign professional reputation, a member of the IPA since 1990.

In the large hall that also hosts local weddings, nearly nine hundred police badges from almost every point of the world can be seen on 12 panels. In one room on the upper floor of the building, police and gendarmerie materials from before 1945 were organized and presented as a life‑size scene. In another room the period from 1945 to 1989 is presented. Here there was also the possibility to create a life‑size scene showing a police duty guidance from the 1970s. Through the life‑size scenes of the gendarmerie and police history, visitors can get a glimpse into the everyday life and work of the gendarmerie and the contemporary police. In five further rooms of the castle, the exhibition material titled “World Police Forces” was placed, in which the uniforms of 132 countries, 145 complete police forces, as well as 2 gendarmerie, 2 border guard and 1 French gendarme were exhibited. Currently the world's largest police uniform collection is located here.