Hegyvidéki Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény és Galéria

The Hegyvidéki Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény is one of the cultural institutions of Budapest's 12th district, founded in 1973 by the 12th district council.

Introduction

The 12th district Hegyvidéki Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény began its operation in 1973 in a small room at 76 Városmajor Street, where its activities were strongly limited by the semi-basement area. The Collection and Gallery have since continuously developed and since 2017 the Hegyvidéki Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény has been located next to the former Zugliget Railway Terminus building, while the Hegyvidék Gallery has found its home under 10 Királyhágó Square.

History

A decisive role in the establishment of the district collection was played by librarian‑teacher Győry Gáspár, who began organizing the research at Táncsics Mihály Gymnasium (his memory, local‑history, library, and teaching work were honored in 1993 with a scientific memorial session by Városmajor Gymnasium and the district municipality). Further significant contributions were made by local‑history researcher Kahlich Endre and Molnár Imre, who for many years directed the small mountain‑district collection with selfless work. In 1984 the local‑history collection finally could move to a larger room: it received the gallery‑type exhibition space under 1 Maros Street, which originally had been a bookbinding workshop.

Over time the stored material grew to a significant number, exceeding 40,000 items. The Maros Street premises, which had to function as exhibition space, research space, and storage, became unsuitable for its tasks by the end of the 1990s.

In September 1998 the local history collection moved to 16 Városmajor Street, where it continued to operate as a new institution under the name Hegyvidéki Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény és Kortárs Galéria. Its scope also expanded: in addition to local history work it hosted visual and applied arts exhibitions. The institution considered an important task the gathering and presentation of works of artists who once lived in the XII District and who today live and create there. In the two modernly designed exhibition spaces of nearly 120 m², local history and art exhibitions and cultural events were alternately organized.

At the end of 2004 the Hegyvidék Municipality – in view of the district’s rich past – decided on the creation of a separate local history collection at 1/b Beethoven Street. On 1 January 2005 the Hegyvidéki Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény és Galéria was established as an independent institution. The Hegyvidék Galéria dealing with visual and applied arts remained at 16 Városmajor Street, while the institution’s headquarters and the Hegyvidéki Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény moved to 1/b Beethoven Street.

In the exhibition space created here there was the possibility to organize occasional local history exhibitions, and with full infrastructural facilities, after prior registration anyone could conduct local history research, using the documents of the local‑capital history library established in the collection. One sign of the wide cultural life of the XII District is that, due to many visitors and the various themes, the Gallery and the Collection became separate and since 2017 have been member institutions of the MOM Cultural Center. The Hegyvidék Gallery is currently located at 10 Királyhágó Square, while the Hegyvidéki Local History Collection has moved to the Lóvasút Cultural and Event Center (1121 Budapest, Zugligeti út 64.).

Collection

In the holdings of the local history collection there are interesting, valuable objects and documents, such as the clock mechanism of the Óra Villa, a part of the archival records of the Semsey family, or the will of Miklós Barabás. A district‑themed postcard collection of nearly one thousand items is also available to researchers. In recent years numerous national and capital scientific institutions and museums have turned to the Hegyvidéki Local History Collection for cooperation and assistance, among them the Budapest History Museum, the Hungarian National Archives and the Hungarian Museum of Architecture. Their professional work is also recognized by the fact that each year several museum studies university students complete their internships with them.

Since 2008 the Hegyvidéki Local History Collection has participated in the Museums' Majálisa and Museums' Night events.

According to their credo, a well‑designed local history collection with high‑quality exhibitions for the public can strengthen the local patriotism of district residents and tighten their attachment to the Hegyvidék. In addition to the work of historians and museologists, they also need the support of the population, the mountain‑district citizens, because it is their recollections and utilitarian objects that actually build and make the district’s history presentable.

The History of the Hegyvidék

The area of the 12th district was already inhabited in prehistoric times, as numerous archaeological remains attest, including a coal mine uncovered in the Denevér Valley, whose material finds are contemporaneous with the famous Vértesszőlős finds. Prehistoric finds were also discovered in the vicinity of Városkút. Until the Hungarian conquest, many peoples passed through this region, each finding a home here. Around 700 BC, Scythians, then Celts settled in what is today the Hegyvidék, later the Romans took possession. The traces of villas and other buildings and cemeteries built by them have been found by archaeologists throughout the district.

During the Middle Ages the Hegyvidék remained a forested area where rulers could hunt at will. Here King Matthias founded his famous hunting park. The water supply of the ever‑growing city of Buda was also solved with the help of the Hegyvidék: the spring water that emerged on the side of Svábhegy—today known as Városkút—was conveyed through wooden and clay pipes to the Castle, to the present‑day Szentháromság Square. The Turkish conquest, however, put an end to this flourishing; the Városkút conduit became clogged, and the forest reclaimed much of the cultivated land.