Black House in Szeged

The Black House (Szeged, Somogyi Street 13.) museum exhibition venue.

Building

It was commissioned by the merchant Ferdinand Mayer in 1857 in the spirit of English Gothic and Romantic style based on the plans of Károly Gerster. It got its name from its former, very dark gray colour. From 1860 to 1865 a downtown casino operated in this building in an anti‑despotism atmosphere. In the summer it housed a girls’ school, and later the editorial office of the Szeged News also moved there. Later, in 1917‑1919, the Workers’ Home had its headquarters in the library room, and the National Council was formed in this building on 22 October 1918, which is why Gyula Juhász called this house the Szeged Pilvax. After expropriation council tenants moved in, and from 1985 the building became the property of the Ferenc Móra Museum.

The intersection where the building stands can be considered unique in Szeged, because all four corner buildings were erected in the mid‑19th century, i.e. they survived the great flood of Szeged in 1879. Due to their urban significance all four buildings enjoy protected monument status.

Collection

The Black House houses the historical, literary‑historical and applied‑arts material of the Ferenc Móra Museum. The historical collection consists of 10 000 museum objects and more than 40 000 pages of documents, the literary‑historical collection counts 15 000 items, and the applied‑arts material nearly 1 700 units. Among the prized relics are the medieval seal press of Szeged from the reign of Matthias, a 17th‑century wheellock pistol, the 18th‑century guild chest of the gunsmiths’ guild, and a lock‑smith company of Ferenc Fejős from 1902.

The “46‑ers” Tree

The collection also contains a mulberry tree from the First World War, which took its name from the 46th Infantry Regiment recruited from Szeged and its surroundings. It is also called the Doberdò tree, referring to the front‑line location. The tree stood on Mount San Michele, near the hamlet of San Martino del Carso. On the barren karst plateau, next to a church, there was a trench from which, after the first battle of Isonzo and a year‑long stalemate, only a mound of stones remained, but despite the countless shell fragments, bullet wounds and burns the tree still sprouted a few leaves in the spring of 1916. Preparing for the one‑year anniversary of the battles on the plateau, the 46th asked the corps commander for permission to cut down the tree and send it home, to which Prince Joseph responded positively: “I agree. This is such a precious relic that I cherish as the greatest treasure. It is the tree of my 46‑ers.” The tree was cut down sometime at the end of June or early July, by which time it was already dead. On 4 July a commemoration was held at the reservists’ camp (Segeti), during which it was also consecrated. It arrived in Szeged in a closed wagon on 10 July, where it was received in ceremonial circumstances.

Permanent exhibitions

The exhibition titled "Society of Csongrád and Csanád Counties from 1867 to 1945" presents industrial relics, memories of bourgeois lifestyle, and the leading 19th‑century industries (hemp, sausage production, paprika processing) up to the founding of the university.

The other exhibit follows the life of György Buday from Kolozsvár, through Szeged and Rome, to London. György Buday, the renowned wood‑carving illustrator (1907‑90), was part of the interwar youth movement in Szeged, and lived mostly in London from 1938. Various periods of his work are brought to life by colored and black‑and‑white prints, graphics, and engravings.

The third permanent exhibit presents fashion from decorative art to the miniskirt. Contemporary tailoring workshops, a hat salon and a turn‑of‑the‑century fitting room were also created at the Móra Ferenc Museum’s historic exhibition space, the Black House, in the exhibition titled "This is how the Szeged nation dressed, the glory of the tailoring industry". In addition, more than one hundred photographs and twenty historically dressed dolls demonstrate the continual change of fashion.

The museum also delights the citizens of Szeged and its visitors with numerous temporary exhibitions, the subjects of which can be followed on the museum’s website.