REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

Viktor CSÁNYI: The Brief History of the Tornyai János Museum … 27
embossed map of the city was placed, also showing the archaeological sites of
Hódmezıvásárhely. On the walls they placed the terracotta enlargements of the ornaments of
several artefacts made by Erzsébet Fülöp – a painter. The door leading to the ethnographical
exhibition was surrounded by two brass relieves, representing the process of pottery-making
(TROGMAYER-KONCZ-PALUCH 2005, 6). The first room of the ethnographical
exhibition represented the local pottery culture. In the next room there were different pieces of
furniture: bride-chests, shelves, benches, mirror-tables, chairs. The “bench of the clericals”,
remaining from the former furniture of the old reformed church represented the high level of
the joiners’ knowledge of the 18th century. The third room was filled with embroideries and
fretworks (case for razor blades, mangle, rock, gingerbread-puppet…etc). Furthermore, a
memorial room was separated for Lajos Kiss – ethnographer.
In the 1970’s the museum expanded with new sites. With the support of the town they
bought the Kovács-farm, situated near the road 47, where the farm-museum of Kopáncs
has been established. The museum bought the house and workshop of Sándor Vékony –
pottery master, situated at 101, Rákóczi Str. The name of the new place of exhibition
became the Csúcs Pottery house, and it still exists nowadays (DÖMÖTÖR 2004, pages
92-94). In 1975 the museum – supported by the National Office of Monuments – bought
the Papi wind mill that was fully furnished. The windmill was renewed between 2009 and
2012 at last.
In 1966 a county decision was made to establish a permanent exhibition of fine arts.
The task of the planned Alföldi Gallery was to collect, store, process and give to the
public the artworks being made in the region. A plan for the three-storey gallery has been
made. The gallery was planned to represent several permanent and temporary exhibitions,
and to have a restore-workshop, too. It would have been situated on the territory between
the Town Hall and the hospital. However, the plan has not been realized, and another
possibility to have the new museum in the building of the old high school. According to
the design made by László Tarnai, the building was restored by the Construction
Company of Csongrád County. In 1985 a permanent exhibition of the fine arts of our
region was opened in four rooms. Along the Vásárhely artists, other centres of fine arts of
the Great Plain (Szolnok, Kecskemét, Szeged, Debrecen) could also get a role in the
exhibition (DÖMÖTÖR 2004, pages 95-97).
Starting from the 1970’s it was a project of high importance to write the monograph of
Hódmezıvásárhely, in which the experts of the museum also participated. The first
volume, published in 1984, introduced the history of the town up to 1849 (NAGY 1984).
The second volume included the period up to the revolution of 1918, and it was published
in 1993 (NAGY 1993).
Archaeological researches in Hódmezıvásárhely before the WWII
The archaeological researches started at the end of the 19 th century in
Hódmezıvásárhely, just as the other territories of Hungary. The first authentic archaeological
data from our territory is from 1753. A poetic chronicle written by Benjámin Szınyi – a
reformed clerical of Hódmezıvásárhely – is about the foundation, the place and the history of
our town (BANNER 1957, p. 133)3. When a summarizing map was made for the exhibition
3 There were similar notes from 1750 in the Petrák-chronicle, written in Szentes (ZALOTAY,
1932, p. 52).