Petőfi House and Memorial Museum in Kiskőrös

The Petőfi Birth House and Memorial Museum is a literary and historical memorial site and museum in Kiskőrös, at 5 Petőfi Sándor Square. In the building that still stands today, the Hungarian poet and revolutionary Petőfi Sándor was born on January 1, 1823. This is also attested by the commemorative plaque placed on the wall of the birth house in 1862. It was the first literary memorial site and the first protected monument in the country.

The poet also has a memorial house in Kiskunfélegyháza (in his former childhood home), in Sárszentlőrinc, and in the building of the parish of Torda in Romania.

The building’s history and the memory of Petőfi

The building was constructed around 1780. Earlier records describe it as a courtyard house with a serf-owned estate, covering an area of 130 square rods. Between 1821 and 1824 it belonged to the master barber Marton Makovinyi.

During that period the master mason István Petrovics rented the building for three years. He lived there with his wife, Mária Hrúz. In early 1823 their first child, Sándor Petőfi, was born there. The family moved to Kiskunfélegyháza in October 1824.

In 1859 the house was inherited by Klára Makovinyi, who owned it until 1863. Afterwards, through a land‑exchange agreement, the house passed into the ownership of master rope-maker Pál Martinovits and his wife, Terézia Varga.

In 1857 the Lutheran pastor János Sárkány, a former schoolmate of Petőfi, verified by checking the civil registers that the poet was born in Kiskőrös. He reported this discovery in the same year in the Sunday Gazette. In 1862, at the suggestion of Imre Ivánka, the birth house was marked with a marble plaque, whose inscription still reads: “Here was born Petőfi 31 December 1822.”

In 1864 the house was certified by Frigyes Pesty, and then in 1873 the Pest county committee was sent to the settlement so that the Hungarian Writers' and Artists' Association could purchase the building. Finally, five years later, on May 24, 1878, it was bought from Terézia Varga for 800 Austrian forints.

In 1880 the building became the property of the association, and on October 17 it was handed over to visitors in a ceremonial setting. The festive speech was given by Mór Jókai and at that time the well‑known drawing of the writer’s birthplace was made. Visitors could already see Petőfi’s birth room, which was still empty.

Since the maintenance and operation of the building from the capital was very difficult, the idea arose to transfer the building to the municipality. The association first offered the building to the Kiskőrös municipal leadership in 1890, and three years later a contract concerning its maintenance was concluded. From 1894 onward the tenant lived at the end of the building. The caretakers cleaned and arranged the building on a daily basis, and the municipality provided financial and professional work for major damages.

Significant changes to the condition of the building were brought about in the centennial years of 1948/49. At that time the creation of an exhibition area covering the entire building took place, which was realized in 1951. In 1953 a literary memorial house was furnished with the former furniture of the Petőfi family and contemporary folk‑art objects.

In 1958, during the first wave of monument protection, the building became a protected site. In addition to its architectural value, its importance was due to the poet’s person. In 1985 the museum was expanded with a sculptural park of translators, and in 1990 with a Petőfi Picture Gallery. In the mid‑1980s the museum’s exhibition items included, later in the courtyard of the birthplace, the first public Petőfi statue in Kiskőrös, made in 1861 by the stone‑carving company Gerenday and Son.

In 2019, within the framework of the Kubinyi Ágoston Program, the museum received 22 million forints for the renovation of the building and the creation of a new exhibition. Accordingly, on January 23, 202, the old exhibition was presented as part of the final guided tour. In the same year, on October 17, they commemorated the 140th anniversary of the building's opening.

In May 2021 the Hungarian government declared the birthplace and the museum a Historical Memorial Site. In 2022 the museum became the site of the János Vitéz Visitor Center. In the same year, on October 16, the renovated exhibition, the museum's new exhibition, and the plaque confirming the historical memorial site were unveiled. At the opening ceremony were present, among others, Balázs Fürjes, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, historian Robert Hermann, literary historian Márton Szilágyi and Szilárd Demeter, director of the Petőfi Literary Museum. This renovated exhibition had already been visited by more than 2,000 people by the beginning of 2023.

The birthplace building

The building has survived in its original condition and is furnished authentically. It has a comb-shaped built‑in, single‑row layout, rectangular floor plan. It is a thatched, board‑clad, reed‑covered building, representing the folk porch of the Kiskunság house type. The building consists of three rooms.

The street room of the birthplace preserves the poet's condition at birth; among the family furniture, the bed and the wardrobe are located here. In the other half, corner benches, chairs, a table and a hanging wicker basket are visible on the wall. The flooring and ceiling are made of wood, and in the corner there is a white‑washed stove.

The central area is the open‑topped kitchen. As a relic they keep the maid Kurucz Zsuzsanna’s potato press and her wooden pasta strainer. A folk‑ethnographic rarity is the central aisle and the open chimney. In one corner they preserve a number 48 tulip‑shaped chest, in which over the decades they store the ribbons collected on the wreath.

The courtyard hall preserves the relics and documents of the Kiskőrös stay and baptism.

Beyond the family furniture, numerous documents and objects related to Petőfi can be seen. A 1815 travelling chest, attributable to Petőfi’s father and containing his documents, which confirm the Kiskőrös stay. Also on display is the birth register made at Petőfi’s baptism together with the baptismal pitcher. As a rarity, the 1861 engraving by Grimm Vince can be viewed, showing the whole family with Petőfi Sándor’s brother István, his wife Szendrey Júlia and his son Petőfi Zoltán.