Rendőrmúzeum

The Police Museum is a museum with a nationwide collection, headquartered in Budapest near the Eastern Railway Station (VIII. Mosonyi Street 5). Its maintainer is the National Police Headquarters (ORFK) Emergency Police.

The Crime Museum

The Police Museum was founded in 1908 under the name Crime Museum. Initially it operated at Ferenc József Square (now: Széchenyi István Square). During the Second World War, in the 1940s, a significant part of its objects was destroyed, and the museum was closed.

The Police Museum

During the socialist era the collection was reorganized, and in 1963 it was placed in the police building complex on Mosonyi Street. Four years later, in 1967, the collection again received museum status. Although object collection and processing continued continuously thereafter, the Police Museum remained closed to the public for decades. It was opened to visitors only in 1999.

In addition to presenting the history of criminology, the museum places special emphasis on the development of the Hungarian police.

Its Collections

The museum has the following object and document collections:

Weapon collection

Numismatic collection

Uniform collection

Historical documentation collection

Photographic collection

Historical objects collection

Exhibition material collection

Beyond the photographic collection, the institution also has a Photo and Film Archive. It preserves 3,000 celluloid film reels and several thousand photographs. Digital processing of them is one of the museum’s important tasks, and about 150 films are already available in this form. After prior appointment, the museum provides free research service for those interested more deeply in both the collections and the archive.

Library

In addition to the above, the museum also has its own library holding approximately 13,000 documents, but it is not located on Mosonyi Street; it is in the building at 71 Király Street.