Massa Museum

The Massa Museum is located in Újmas, near Lillafüred, next to the prehistoric furnace. The Lillafüred narrow-gauge railway has a stop beside it, but it can also be reached by bus number 15. By car one must take the road that runs along the shore of Hámori Lake toward Bánkút.

History

The Massa Museum is a simple, stylish stone building next to the prehistoric furnace, standing on the bank of the Garadna stream. On its wall is placed a memorial plaque of the founder of the prehistoric furnace, Frigyes Fazola. The museum was founded in 1963, its purpose and task being to present the history and centuries-long operation of the Diósgyőr‑Hámori Ironworks within the permanent exhibition titled “The History of the Diósgyőr‑Hámori Ironworks (1770–1870)”. The complete exhibition presenting the history of Hungarian ironworking can be seen in Miskolc‑Felsőhámor, in the Metallurgical Museum founded in 1960, then still in the Diósgyőr‑Ironworks.

In the museum’s first room one can view a model of the blast furnace built by Henrik Fazola in 1772 in Felső‑Hámor, as well as the furnace’s profile, and of course the documents, writings and seals of Frigyes Fazola’s furnace, the prehistoric furnace, are also displayed. It is also visible what kind of pig iron was used and what slag formed in the furnace. In the next room cast‑iron products are exhibited; for example, the cast cauldron made for the kitchen of the soldiers working on the dam of the Lillafüred lake, and also the cast grave marker of Henrik Fazola’s second wife, Mrs. Tecla. In addition to the casting memorabilia, a model of the blacksmith’s workshop and its equipment can be seen. The following room again contains cast‑iron decorative and utilitarian objects, while the fourth room presents the history of forging, hand tools and their forging technologies.

Next to the building can be seen the reconstructed, originally charcoal‑fired, two‑stage truncated pyramid‑shaped ancient furnace. In 1979, based on contemporary documents, a iron‑working (blacksmith) plant was built, in which the originally water‑wheel‑driven tail hammer and other auxiliary equipment can be seen. The hammer is now, of course, driven by an electric motor, and it is occasionally started for the pleasure of tourists and visitors.

On the opposite side of the Garadna stream, or the road, a technical open‑air museum can be seen, where genuine, formerly operating or used metallurgical and mining machines and tools have been placed.