Bányászati és Ipari Skanzen

Useful Information

Location:	Vágóhíd utca 1, 2800 Tatabánya. (47.561361, 18.394195)
Open:	Museum: All year Tue-Sat 10-18. Open-air museum: APR to NOV Wed-Sun 10-18. [2022]
Fee:	Adults HUF 1,400, Children HUF 800, Seniors HUF 800, Family HUF 3,000. Groups (10+): Adults HUF 1,100, Children HUF 700, Seniors HUF 700. Photo ticket HUF 1,400. [2022]
Classification:	Mining Museum Coal Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Anikó Főrészné Molnár, Gyula Csics (ed.) (2000): The Outdoor Museum of Mining of the Museum of Tatabánya, Guide to the exhibitions of the Skanzen of Industry. Publisher: Tatabánya Museum. Available at the museum shop.
Address:	Bányászati és Ipari Skanzen, Vágóhíd utca 1, 2800 Tatabánya, Tel: +36-70-932-0121. E-mail: Tatabányai Múzeum, Szent Borbála tér 1, 2800 Tatabánya, Tel: +36-20-251-6007.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

30-DEC-1950	Mining accident at shaft XII.
11-MAY-1962	XV/a akna mining accident.
04-DEC-1963	XV/a akna mining accident, 26 miners lost their lives during an air pressure explosion.
1967	creation of the core collection.
1971	Tatabánya Museum founded in the building of the old Pushkin Cultural Center.
1975	first permanent exhibition opened to the public at Gellért tér 3, in an old school building.
16-FEB-1978	XV/a akna mining accident, 26 miners lost their lives.
1985	museum moves to its current location.
01-OCT-1985	first exhibition "Industrial development, working life in the Tata coal basin 1896-1945" opened.
1987	old XV shaft acquired and Open-Air Mining Museum established.
1988	Open-Air Mining Museum opened to the public.
1997	renovation of the museum.
1997	receives the title Museum of the Year.
2004	special award of the Hungarian Museum Association.
2016	Certificate of Recognition for Museum Pedagogy.

Geology

Description

The Bányászati és Ipari Skanzen (Open-Air Museum of Mining and Industry) is a part of the Tatabányai Múzeum (Tatabánya Museum), and is dedicated to the local mining history. It is located in the surface buildings of the abandoned mine XV/a akna (XV/a mine) in Tatabánya. The wealth of the city is based on the mining and the industrialization since the late 19th century. But the mining is also responsible for numerous serious mining accidents. The mining accident of 30-DEC-1950 is said to be the most serious mining accident in Hungary's history.

The open air museum shows the two headframes of the abandoned collieries and numerous other buildings of the mine. It presents the working and living conditions of industrial workers. Coal mining started at this place during the 15th century. The start of mining at the end of the 19th century can be linked to the activities of the Magyar Áltanos Kőszénbánya Estvénytársulat (MÁK Rt., Hungarian Old Coal Mine Society). This company had been founded in 1891, but by the turn of the century it had already developed into one of the dominant companies in Hungarian coal mining. The company continuously expanded its industrial profile including energy production, brick and cement production, ceramic industry, metallurgy, and various chemical industry activities. Between the wars it had become a multinational group on a European scale. The Tata coal basin was one of the centers of Hungarian heavy industry from before World War I until the end of the 1980s.

However, during the 20th century the site had no name, it had just a number, it was called XV akna (Shaft XV). From this time the steel head frame with massive engines, the blacksmith's workshop, the water tower, the bath and dressing building, the plant manager's office in the former office building, the mine engineering, and the wood stove originate. There is also a replica of a mining passage with the typical tools and machinery. Obviously a socialist heritage is the monument to the heroic dead. The museum also has two old colonial houses, the officials' house and the old school. The first colony house contains 35 m² apartments with one room, kitchen, and pantry. They trace the evolution of housing culture from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1960s, each appartment furnished according to one period. The old school actually contains two fully equipped classrooms - one from the 1920s-30s and one from the 1960s-70s.

Every year there is the bányásznapi (Miners Day). Beneath a parade with brass bands in miners uniforms there are volunteers in typical clothing showing the typical daily life of the miners. They call this élő múzeum (living museum). Visitors participate at the miner's initiation ceremony, learn the miner's songs and the miner's hymn, and get a certificate for the rehearsals. In the school there are historic school lessons and even the food is typical for the miners. The event is quite popular among locals and tourists.

Another recurring event is the KÉP-ZE-LET Nemzetközi Fémszobrász Szimpózium (International Metal Sculpture Symposium KÉP-ZE-LET) every summer since 1997. The works created at the event are placed in the sculpture garden. Organizers are the Tatabánya Museum, the Open-Air Mining Museum Foundation, the Public Foundation for the Creative Artists of Tatabánya and the local artist Viktor Lois.

The main museum shows industry, lifestyle, and political history, but also archaeology, ethnography, fine arts, and natural science. The scientific activity of the museum extends to educational history conferences and exhibitions, and lifestyle-historical research.