Balaton Museum

In 1898, the Balaton Museum Association was founded in Keszthely – among others at the initiative of Árpád Csák and Sándor Lovassy. The museum building was constructed between 1925 and 1928 according to the designs of Dénes Györgyi in a Neo‑Baroque style. As the first museum of Zala County, it has collected archaeological, ethnographic, historical and natural‑science relics of the Balaton region since its beginnings. In 1936, the museum merged with the Sümeg Darnay Museum, and its collection grew significantly. The promising development was interrupted by the Second World War. In 1945, the most valuable items of the collections were destroyed in a bombing raid on railway cars at the Zalaegerszeg railway station. After the nationalization in 1949, the museum’s situation stabilized again and collecting work resumed.

The museum received the title “Museum of the Year 2011” in 2012 and was awarded the Podmaniczky Prize in 2014. In 2021 it was recognized as a Family‑Friendly Institution Service Site. In the same year, the Balaton Museum also received the 2021 Year‑Website Special Award.