Foundation Day 2023

 

Foundation Day 2023
Saturday, 25 November 2023, 10 pm – 7 pm

 

The national library celebrates its 221st anniversary on 25 November 2023. On our Open Day, you can visit our exhibitions and digitisation centre, take part in our English building tours, and enjoy a children's play house and craft activities!

On this day, we offer free registration for our future readers and discounts in our gift shop!

Our reading rooms will be open as usual on Saturdays during the event! The reading room for the General Collection and Special Collections will be open from 9 am to 7 pm.

We look forward to welcoming you to our events and our library!

 

 

LIBRARY BUILDING TOUR - Wandering around the Buda Castle Palace Building F

During the walk, our visitors may learn about the fascinating history of the building and discover parts of it that still preserve a small piece of the original royal palace.

Location: 5th floor, starting from the main staircase
Duration: 60 minutes

Time:

• 10:30
• 13:00
• 16:30

DIGITISATION IN THE NATIONAL SZÉCHÉNYI LIBRARY

Advanced tools for timeless digitisation. A robotic scanner, a high-quality camera, a custom-designed workstation, and the list goes on. Digitising the library's document collection requires a wide range of tools. During the demonstration, staff from the digitisation centre will give a presentation on how the machines work.

Location: floor 8, Digitisation Centre

The programme can be visited at the following times:

• 10.00–11.30
• 12.00–13.30
• 14.00–15.30
• 16.00–17.30
• 18.00–19.00

„…WHO NOW REMAINS INDOLENT, HAS NO FUTURE”
175 years of the Saint Stephen Association – EXHIBITION

The Saint Stephen Association, founded in 1848, is a unique organisation, a religious association for Catholic public education and the oldest continuously operating publishing house in Hungary. Throughout its long and eventful history, it has addressed both intellectuals and the general public, and has published a wide variety of publications.
The joint temporary exhibition of the NSZL and the Saint Stephen Association presents the history of one of the most important cultural institutions of Hungarian Catholicism, which played a significant role at the national level, with the help of original artefacts, contemporary documents, photographs, books and interactive elements.

Location: floor 6, ceremonial hall
Time: the exhibition is open from 10 am to 7 pm.

SÁNDOR PETŐFI AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES – EXHIBITION

The exhibition includes the manuscripts Petőfi wrote about his contemporaries and the drawings he made of Arany and Bem. Also on display is a selection of documents from one of his contemporaries. In addition to János Arany, Mór Jókai and Mihály Vörösmarty, we also have manuscripts of public figures such as Lajos Kossuth, István Széchenyi and Ferenc Deák.

Location: floor 6, ceremonial hall
Time: the exhibition is open from 10 am to 7 pm.

 

INDOOR PLAY CENTRE WITH UNIQUE PUZZLES

Giant puzzles to play with, courtesy of Gábor Gondos and Gondosdesign. Smaller and larger, up to 180 centimetres in diameter, aesthetic games - inspired by corvina patterns, Arabic ornaments or fractal shapes - can be solved in a variety of ways, so participants can create their own compositions. It is recommended for families with children over six years old and for playful adults.

Location: floor 5, hallway
Time: ongoing (10.00–19.00)

 

PIN AND FRIDGE MAGNET MAKING

Make your own pin or fridge magnet using an excerpt from the manuscript of the National Anthem or National Song.

Location: floor 5, hallway
Time: ongoing (10.00–19.00)

 

140 YEARS – DREAM ON STAGE
Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man – EXHIBITION

In our exhibition we present some particularly interesting documents from the Theatre History and Music Collection to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Imre Madách and the 140th anniversary of the theatrical premiere of The Tragedy of Man.
Starting from the early history on stage of the Tragedy (21 September 1883), we will list the most exciting set and costume designs and theatre photographs of the first half of the 20th century (1926, 1934, 1939), and conclude with a glimpse of the opening performance of the National Theatre on 15 March 2002. Visitors will be able to see the visual world with which Madách's work has been staged by the directors from time to time. In the exhibition, you can also scroll through a digital copy of Ede Paulay's director's copy.

Location: floor 7, Historical Photo and Interview Collection research room
Time: ongoing (10.00–19.00)

 

GIFT AND BOOKSHOP

During the day, you can buy some of our publications at a discount in our onsite gift shop. Please note that discounts do not apply to online orders.