A new temporary exhibition opened in the Déri Museum on 11 April, City Day.
This year we commemorate the 175th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848/49. The year 1849 was of great importance for Debrecen, as the dethronement of the Habsburg dynasty, the final drafting and proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, the election of Kossuth as Governor are all historical events with a Debrecen connection.
For the people of Debrecen, one of the most important sentences related to the War of Independence comes from him, since the following sentence can be read in the proclamation dated 6 January 1849 in Debrecen:
“People of Debreczen! In the name of the nation, I declare the city of Debreczen to be the guardian city of Hungarian freedom, and I place the Parliament and the government on the unshakable rock of the Debreczen people’s sense of honor.”
The Déri Museum is paying tribute to the events 175 years ago with a commemorative exhibition in the Dome Room and Gallery. The exhibition presents details from the history of the legendary Hungarian military unit, the Hussars. We also tried to select the earliest light cavalry military equipment and weapons, so that the public does not associate the Hussars with the war of 1848-49 only. This is why we can see horseshoes, chain mail, neck armour, and horns from an even earlier period, linked to the Hussars of 1703.
As the most important event in Debrecen, the exhibition also commemorates the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, with various copies of the document and the minutes associated with it.
A real curiosity is also on display. It is extremely rare to find a weapon from this period with a name. However, the exhibition does include the saber of one of the martyrs of Arad, Colonel Vilmos Lázár.
Thanks to Norbert Máday, private collector, the Great Library of the Reformed College, the HM Institute and Museum of Military History, the National Gallery, the Béla Békéssy Fencing Club and all our supporters for their selfless contributions to help us make our latest temporary exhibition a wonder to behold!
Balázs Korompai, historian, curator of the exhibition
The exhibition is open from 11 April 2024 to 30 June 2024.
