Madách Imre Memorial Museum

The Madách Imre Memorial Museum is a literary memorial site established in the former manor of Madách Imre in Csesztve, Nógrád County, the home of his married years, and has been a museum since 1964. It is Hungary's only Madách museum. According to museum law, since January 2013 it has been under the administration of the Csesztve municipality.

The writer's other significant memorial site is the Madách Castle located in his birthplace, Alsósztregó, Slovakia.

Madách Imre in Csesztve

The one‑storey manor standing on a small hill in a protected park was built in the first half of the 19th century. The writer's mother, Anna Majthényi, received it as a dowry and then gave it as a wedding gift to her son.

Madách Imre lived in the building from December 1844 to September 1853, and in July 1845 he married Erzsébet Fráter. They spent the happy years of their marriage there, and four children were born there (their first son died on the day of his birth). It was here that Madách learned of the revolution, and in 1849 the peaceful years came to an end. After the defeat of the war of independence, the poet hid János Rákóczy, Kossuth's secretary, in Csesztve. He was arrested in August 1852 and could return home only on August 20 of the following year. Because of a deteriorated relationship with his wife, they left Csesztve in the autumn of 1853 and divorced in the summer of 1854.

The writer's brother, Károly Madách (1826–1888), moved into the manor with his family and had the building rebuilt in 1864, also renovating the park. Their children's tutor was Nándor Kálnay, who later wrote a valuable book about the village (History and Description of the Csesztve Community, 1884).

The Memorial Museum

The first literary memorial exhibition opened in the former manor in 1964. Initially it occupied only two rooms; from 1969 it operated in five rooms. The building was restored by 1983 (the original premiere of the Tragedy took place in 1883) and was reopened in October of that year. The exhibition at that time was organized by Ferenc Kerényi, a theatre and literary historian.

In 2010, the Museum of Hungarian Culture in Slovakia and the local government of Nógrád County jointly submitted a project for the restoration of the Madách memorial sites to the European Union competition. With the awarded funds, the castle in Alsósztregova and the memorial museum in Csesztve were renovated. In the renovated building in Csesztve, the new permanent exhibition was opened on 19 October 2012.

The exhibition

Here is the only museum in Hungary dedicated to Imre Madách. The exhibition provides an overview of the main stages of Madách's life, but primarily focuses on his years spent in Csesztve and his main work, The Tragedy of Man.

Pictures, documents, manuscripts, and objects of everyday use present the writer and his works. Some original items have been returned from the Palóc Museum, including the childhood cradle and the writer's letter box; his early drawings and school textbooks can also be seen. The world of the former noble manor is conveyed through interiors, period furniture, vitrines, and costumes. The period-accurate costumes displayed in the salon were made based on illustrations, as no original garments survived in the writer's estate. In the reconstructed salon, the full-length plaster statue of the Mr. and Mrs. Madách couple is also displayed. The work was purchased by the local municipality from the estate of the sculptor István Szabó Jr., who died in 2017. The Tragedy of Man, its performances and later adaptations are presented through manuscripts, film excerpts projected on a screen, and touch-screen monitors. The exhibition is complemented by illustrations of tragedies placed along the side river and posters of theatrical performances. In front of the entrance to the house, the statue of Madách by Ferenc Vígh can be seen.

Madách commemorative days

In the first days of October each year in Csesztve, a commemorative day is held in honor of Madách (the poet died on 5 October 1864). The commemoration (as well as the Madách Literary Days) has been jointly organized for more than twenty-five years by the local municipality, the Hungarian and the Slovakian museums.