Vörösmarty Mihály Memorial Museum and Csajághy Laura Stage, Kápolnásnyék

Architect: Lajos Ónodi Szabó
Text: Sándor Csontó
Photos: Lajos Ónodi Szabó, Norbert Juhász
 
After 70 years, the simple mansion in Kápolnásnyék has evolved into a genuine memorial museum in which Mihály Vörösmarty, a key character in the history of Hungarian Romantic poetry in the Reform Age spent his childhood from 1802 and 1811. This is an achievement largely due to Dr. Ida Kovács, manager of the department of the Petőfi Museum of Literature and Gyula Kemény spectacle designer. The house was built as lodging by Count Mihály Nádasdy landowner for his under-steward, Mihály Vörösmarty Sr., and his family for his services. The Vörösmartys were a family with ten children, and the original simple single-storey thatch-roof house played an important role in the poet’s life. The first exhibition was opened in 1950, but it was practically limited to three rooms as the building contained a service flat and a spare accommodation for guests. This unworthy situation partly ended in 2010, when the building and its exhibition spaces were partly restored. However, the comprehensive restoration has been postponed so far: the house in Kápolnásnyék has been renewed both inside and outside on the 220th anniversary of Vörösmarty’s birth. The vacant lot behind the mansion is now a beautiful landscaped park.

General design: TSPC Mérnökiroda Kft.
Exhibition concept, interiors: Petőfi Irodalmi Múzeum
Architecture: Bicske Építő Kft.
Leading architect: Lajos Ónodi Szabó
Fellow architect: Ákos Ónodi Szabó
Monument history expert: Piros Fáy
Landscape: Balázs Almási
Roads, traffic: Zoltán Horváth – Horváth Project Mérnökiroda
HVAC: Gábor Vincze – InnoÉpület Kft.
Electrical engineering: Balázs Kovács
Client: Velence-tavi Terület- és Településfejlesztési Nonprofit Kft.