Museum of Ethnography (Neprajzi) closing in December

Orban is trying to rebuild the "empire". The museums in the castle are also on his list to relocate so the castle can become .... well a castle again.

I guess that makes sense, though I do prefer a museum that's in a historic building vs a brand new modern one. I visited the National Gallery last year and there was a special Picasso exhibit that was quite enjoyable. With the Neprajzi and Applied Arts Museum (building renovations) both closed that'll leave a bit of a gap in the museum-going experience in Budapest.

I guess that makes sense...

Especially if you are a right of center nationalist.

Here is the new museum. I gotta give em credit, its unique. Don't expect it to open any time soon. Calendars in Hungary are constructed our of very elastic materials. If they are saying 2019, i would guess 2021 at best.

https://inhabitat.com/new-budapest-museum-will-feature-a-sweeping-green-roof-resembling-a-skateboard-ramp/

Also, a place i bet you haven't visited (almost no one does), its the monument to the 1956 revolution. You can see it towards the bottom in this story. http://origins.osu.edu/milestones/october-2016-remembering-56-hungarian-revolution-sixty

It is located here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Memorial+to+the+1956+Revolution/@47.5116095,19.0809699,18z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4741dc7929c4e483:0x82a45ef49e35dad2!8m2!3d47.5116083!4d19.0817217?hl=en

I thought of it because in the photos of the new museum in the park it looks like they tried to incorporate it into the design.

Also, a place i bet you haven't visited (almost no one does), its the monument to the 1956 revolution. You can see it towards the bottom in this story. http://origins.osu.edu/milestones/october-2016-remembering-56-hungarian-revolution-sixty

It is located here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Memorial+to+the+1956+Revolution/@47.5116095,19.0809699,18z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4741dc7929c4e483:0x82a45ef49e35dad2!8m2!3d47.5116083!4d19.0817217?hl=en

I thought of it because in the photos of the new museum in the park it looks like they tried to incorporate it into the design.

I get that modern is so fresh and clean and excitingly innovative, but there was something cool about seeing all the wonderful old things in the Neprajzi in an old and beautifully intricate building--true, it could feel vast and empty and you could just wander all over the place, but it spoke to me. I will have to look for the 1956 monument.

If you take the time to read Endre Marton's book "The Forbidden Sky" (1971) there is a lot devoted to his, and his wife's, imprisonment by the Яussians in Buda (the crime was essentially being reporters for the western press and being friends with western government representatives). Some years ago my wife and i were walking through lower Buda and we came across the prison. Just out of curiosity we went in the front door. The guard didn't speak English but understood we were just poking around town, so he gave us a brief tour. It's still a prison and we saw some cells (occupied) and saw some inmates in stripped uniforms walking a circle in the courtyard. At that, despite the kindness of the guard, we decided we should get out. It looked every bit like the description in the book. Amazing...

Adding to my reading list. How fascinating that you not only found the prison but the guard let you look around—as if that would ever happen here.

Then, after the death of Endre Martin and the liberation of Hungary, Endre's daughter, Kati, went through the secret police files in Budapest and wrote another account of her parents life. That book is called "Enemies of the People: My Family's Journey to America".

She also wrote "Great Escape" which is about 9 Jews that got out of Budapest before the Holocaust and became quite famous. Good book.

Christa, I feel your pain. I spent five days in Budapest in January 2016 and both the National Gallery and the Terror Museum were
closed. Although the Terror Museum had a wonderful display outside in front about the 1956 uprising. Only disappointments of
the whole trip. Should have checked on their websites beforehand but I still would have visited then so... Many other historical and musical venues to keep me busy!

Is there any chance that the Orban government is trying to set up a big museum solely dedicated to the 56 uprising? Personally I think that it would be great if it did, as the 56 uprising represents a great moment in European history, IMHO.
When I visited the Hungarian Communist Party history museum in Buda in 1989 the section about 56 was closed, probably due to the ongoing debate at that time on the uprising and the party's role in suppressing it. I was one of the only people visiting it that day, perhaps an indicator of the coming demise/transformation of the party.

The House of Terror devotes some space to it, and after the rebuilding of the park behind the Parliament a small, but reportedly well done, exhibit was constructed http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YEep4KT02sw/VWqHg2XIGaI/AAAAAAABaeg/G_hSkhEilHI/s1600/DSC_0091.jpg

One of the interesting things about Budapest is that there is still a lot of very profound history evident outside of museums. But you have to look fast as it is disappearing. All over town you can still see bullet hole riddled buildings for instance. Some from WWII and a lot from 1956. Which are which? Some you can discern because of building age, others if you do a little reading you can make some educated guesses about.