Hódmezővásárhely - Makó

The 73-square-metre room presents the life of László Németh, a writer from Hódmezővásárhely, and preserves the memory of his human and family background. The room not only serves as an exhibition, but also as a space for extraordinary literature classes. Until 1942, László Németh edited the journal Kelet népe (People of the East) alongside one of the greatest Hungarian writers, Zsigmond Móricz. This is why the writer visited Tanyai Tanulók Otthona (the Home for Farmhouse Pupils) in 1940, accompanying Móricz. This captivated him so much that he donated the entire royalties from his play "Cseresnyés" to the talent rescue service. As a sign of gratitude, the institution subsequently renamed itself Cseresnyés College. In 1945, the leaders of the Reformed Church and High School offered him a teaching position, which he accepted, and the writer's relationship with the city grew even closer. For a few years he worked as a teacher at the Gábor Bethlen High School and also at the Leánygimnázium (Girls' High School). He wrote several plays during his years in Hódmezővásárhely, and after moving from the city in 1954 he returned regularly to translate works by Shakespeare and Ibsen. The memorial room dedicated to the life's work of one of the greatest Hungarian thinkers of the last century is located in the former girls' high school building, where the writer lived between 1947 and 1948.

The memorial of the Battle of Lake Hód on 18 August 1282 was planned before the 2000s, but has not been fully completed to date. The monument, in the shape of a Kun cone, was once frescoed. Unfortunately, the artwork was destroyed very quickly. The Battle of Lake Hód in 1282 (which was also significant in the life of the Hungarian Kingdom during the Árpád era), was one of the most important events in the history of Hódmezővásárhely. Every year, the inhabitants of the town commemorate the battle in which King László IV defeated the Kun army and forced them to settle peacefully. Prior to the battle, László IV had obliged the Kuns by law to convert and adopt a Christian way of life according to the will of the Church. However, the Kun law of 1279 was rejected and when the Hungarian military forces were brought in, they rebelled against King László IV. Their uprising grew to such a scale that the Kun and Hungarian armies finally clashed in the summer of 1282 on the outskirts of Hód and Vásárhely. The battle lasted three days and consisted of four battles: in Hód field, the area known as the Great Island on the southern outskirts of the city, then on the northern shore of Lake Hód, and finally on the plain of Martély, where the decisive battle took place. The army of László IV defeated the Kuns here and chased their troops all the way to the Carpathian Mountains. The king then lived with the Kuns, who settled down, became Christians and gradually assimilated into the Hungarian nation. Ironically, King László IV of Hungary was killed by the Kuns themselves, for unknown reasons.

The cultural life of the town, known for its onion, which is also a Hungarikum (officially registered Hungarian value), was in its most vibrant period at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, famous writers and poets such as Attila József, Gyula Juhász and Ferenc Móra were active here. The town of Makó has natural assets such as the floodplain of Maros and the medicinal mud from the river. The modernist predecessor of the present building was built in 1936 by the members of the Makó és Vidéke Hagyma és Zöldségtermelőinek Egyesülete (Makó Region Onion and Vegetable Growers' Association), hence the name Onion House. Its function was to serve as the association's headquarters and as a production and sales centre. However, it quickly developed into an economic and cultural centre. The original plan was to set up a permanent exhibition in the main hall, showing the process of onion growing, but the war intervened. After World War II, the building was used exclusively for cultural and political events. By this time, the members of the Onion Association had left the town. The modernist buildings made quite a scar on Makó's original image, which the city tried to remedy by commissioning the famous designer Imre Makovecz 20 years ago. The four-towered, organic Hagymaház (Onion House), built in 1998, quickly became the centre of the city's cultural life. The building featuring natural symbols was designed to fit in with the existing environment around it. The building's towers of plant-like glass elements that reach skywards represent the renewal of nature. Its white walls and the four bastions of its former enclosure evoke the spirit of the old Reformed church, a temple of the Christian culture. Inside, an anthropomorphic wooden structure reminiscent of a human rib covers the reinforced concrete pillars that support the roof structure. The interior of the Hagymaház is also a cultic place of the Hungarian ancestor religion, since the folk belief says that the sky is held by a tree reaching to it, and in this case, the vault is held by wooden ribs. The 390-seat auditorium also has a stage, a podium and a café. Since 1999, the Hagymabál (Onion Ball), the most prestigious ball in the city, has been held in the inner hall of the building.

Built in 1927, this neo-Baroque building is a dominant feature of Makó's cityscape. The building was originally planned to house a restaurant, a café and a hotel, along with shops and apartments. In the end, however, only the latter were built, reducing the city's housing shortage. In 1925, an unadorned granary stood on the site of the Bérpalota. According to Ambrus Ott's plans, the new ornate building in the main square of the city could be built in nine months after the old building was demolished. Its most ornate part is the dome, with stuccoed windows and wrought-iron balcony railings on the upper floor. In total, fourteen apartments are housed in this uniquely structured building. The first modernisation of the Bérpalota took place in 1982, when it was given a more dynamic bronze colour scheme. This colour enhances the beauty of the architecture, as opposed to the previous yellow, and harmonises with the adjacent sculptures of the Heroes' Monument. Its function has not changed over the years, with shops on the ground floor and apartments on the first and second floors. Interestingly, Europe’s second largest colony of common house martins is nesting on the ledge of the Bérpalota.

Declared a museum in 1950, the institution named after Attila József has permanent, temporary and open-air ethnographic exhibitions and a well museum. In the courtyard you will also find the so-called Apátfalvi house, furnished with original folk art objects. The museum is housed in a restored, romantic noble mansion. Since the 1960s, the museum's collections have been constantly expanded, with the addition of ethnographic, local history and literature collections. The most valuable items of the latter were original manuscripts by Attila József. During his high school years, Attila József lived in the Esperit House, adjacent to the museum, as a protégé of Dr. János Esperit, a lawyer. The literary exhibition space is located here today. In the courtyard of the museum you can visit the open-air museum (skanzen), where there is also a sledge-based grain storage basket, a wooden wheat storage hut and a poor man's dwelling dug into the ground. The ground floor hall of the museum houses temporary exhibitions, while upstairs the permanent exhibition Makó 700 éve (700 Years of Makó) takes visitors on a journey through the city's history. The Küzdelmes évszázadok (Struggling Centuries) exhibition also tells the 300-year history of the town, with furnished market, peasant, noble and bourgeois interiors. The museum is also hosting a commemorative exhibition in honour of the work of local-born József Galamb. Galamb joined the Ford car company in Detroit in 1905 and became a direct employee of Henry Ford. He was instrumental in the design of the Model T from 1907, 15 million of which were produced. In addition to the Model T, the Fordson tractor was also a similar success. In 1921, József Galamb sent six models of it to Makó to facilitate the start of his brothers' business. The exhibition also includes a working Model T from 1919.