Wosinsky Mór County Museum

The Wosinsky Mór Museum is located in Szekszárd, at 26 Szent István Square.

History of the museum

Wosinsky Mór collected valuable, mainly archaeological material during his domestic and foreign expeditions, and its placement and presentation soon became necessary. Together with Count Sándor Apponyi, they decided to create the museum of Tolna County. Their first exhibition opened in 1896, the proclaimed year of the millennium, in the rooms of the then newly built Szekszárd main high school. As the rooms took on an educational function, the establishment of an independent museum became urgent. Wosinsky commissioned the renowned architects of the era, Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herczog, the designers of the Art Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts, to design his museum. Through Wosinsky's dedicated activity, the neo‑Renaissance style museum palace opened in 1902. It is unique among county museums in that it was built expressly for museum purposes.

The museum offers permanent exhibitions for visitors. The archaeological exhibition on the ground floor presents the history of Tolna County from the Stone Age to the early Árpád period. The exhibition titled *Megelevenedett képek – egy kisváros a századfordulón* (Living Pictures – a Small Town at the Turn of the Century) is located on the upper floor. With a symbolic walk along the east‑west axis of Szekszárd, one can traverse the exhibition among monuments that were once admired by notable visitors to the city. The archaeological and weapons collection in the cellar museum can be visited only by groups that have arranged a prior appointment.

Memory of the founder

A bronze bust of the namesake, archaeologist, museum‑founding director, and bibliophile scholar priest Wosinsky Mór, created by Pál Farkas, stands in front of the museum. It was made in 1989, on the 90th anniversary of the idea of an independent museum building. The bust is surrounded by large Roman altar stones recently uncovered from the Duna‑meder marshes. In the 1970s and 1980s the institution bore the name of Ádám Béri Balog.