The History of the Museum

The Museum Association of Vác – attempted to be initiated in 1881 and in 1887 – was formed during the nationwide enthusiasm engendered by millenium events. The Museum Association of Vác accepted Mihály Bauer's draft charter on 15th February 1895, and, after the Ministry of Interior' approval, the Association held its statutory meeting on  27th December 1896 at the City Hall's main hall. The aims of the Association and the tasks of the  Museum were formed in the draft charter as follows: 'Its aim is to set up an archeological and crafts museum and library, laying a sound foundation for setting up the school of commerce and industry'.

The tasks of the museum:

a, collecting, preserving, presenting geological, prehistorical, historical, artistic, literary, arts industrial and educational memories of the past, mainly those of local importance for public interest.

b, collecting, classifying and displaying historical memories, regional and etnographical data and geological findings, magnificent specimens of raw products, masterpieces of industry and arts of modern era to enable their study and examination.' /VME 's charters 1897. Vácz. TIM Library/

This promising start was followed by times of uncertainty, the museum, which was installed in one of the rooms of Bauer's house, temporarily closed. Afterwards the collection was gathering dust in rented warehouses. It was the Church that gave succour to emerge from this difficult situation and in 1912 the Museum Association of Vác rented three rooms of the Diocesan Library and housed an exhibition which could be visited. A collection register of the Museum in Vác was compiled and published on this occasion.  As there were no inventory ledgers, this register, holding extensive data, provides invaluable help in reconstructing the collection.

Although there were some plans to build a museum, they were all abandoned due to lack of financial resources.  On 2nd February 1918  Imre Pauer Honorary Minister Counsellor and professor emeritus offered his home in Papnevelde Street  - at present 4 Múzeum Street - for the cultural purpose of the city, which boosted hopes for having their own exhibition premises. The endowment was followed by litigation, that is why the  exhibition opened only on 10th May 1931. The person in charge of the museum and leader of the association, was Ignác Tragor who died in 1941; he was followed by Márton Bán, a piarist teacher, who held this position until the nationalization.  The building itself was damaged due to bombings in 1944. The exhibition was devastated, a lot of objects disappeared or were destroyed, part of the archives was burned away. /VME Jk. III. 13th June 1947 /

In 1949 the Museum Association of Vác was wound up, although the museum was managed in exemplary fashion according to investigations.

The nationalized museum had a rather dim period between 1949 and 1952.  The old inventory ledgers had disappeared, so it was impossible to reconstruct the collection, moreover the information relating to the remaining works of art vanished. There was a wide fluctuation in the directors of the museum, which gave the impression that the collection was missing a good owner. A re-inventory of the remaining works of art was made in 1952, yet just a few pieces were  registered in the inventory ledger, compared to the earlier stock.

In the 1950s the Museum of Vác was one of the  one-person museums in the countryside adopting the name of Vak Bottyán in 1952.  Those who are well acquainted with the history – especially local history – this naming may seem strange, because the  city met the Kuruc general when he – as an imperial officer – set the town on fire.

By reorganising the museum network in 1963, it achieved the rank of a countryside museum, and at the same time it became a member of the Directorate of Pest County Museums. Its catchment area covered Vác and the old Vác and Gödöllő District. From the late 1960s the collections passed into public ownership and the collecting became more methodical and intensive. The Pauer House proved to be rather cramped and outdated already in the early 60s, and plans were made to move the museum to its rightful place. In the 1970s the museum was enlarged with the Greek-Catholic church, and in the 1980s, with the Hincz Collection as  exhibition premises.

On 1^st March 1990, after the change of regime the museum adopted the name of Ignác Tragor. In 2003 the institution moved from the Pauer House to 41/A Zrínyi Street, where the stock rooms,  workshops and offices were placed . In the building itself there is no exhibition. In 2003 it became a Regional Museum under the auspices of the Municipality of Vác; its catchment area covers 38 settlements. Besides Vác, its collection covers four areas: local history, etnography, fine arts and archaeology.

Ignác Tragor (4th June 1869, Vác – 10th February 1941, Vác):

lawyer, manager of savings bank, founder of a museum.

He was born to an extensive middle-class family, whose one branch might have arrived in Vác in the early 19^th century. His parents were Ignác Tragor and Hermina Meizner. After finishing primary school and the Piarist Secondary Grammar school in Vác, he went on to study law in Cluj Napoca and Budapest, where he graduated in 1891.

After spending his traineeship in many different places (Csíkszereda, Marosvásárhely, Vác) he passed his lawyer’s exam in 1895, then he became a Deputy Notary Public in the Royal Notary Office in Vác. His family set up the Savings Bank in Vác, and he became its manager in 1899 until his death. His wife was Amália Kőszeghi Winkler, they had one  child, Margit Tragor.

Tragor was a keen enthusiast of his town's history and found his real profession  engaging himself in local history and disseminating knowledge. In 1896 he became the Secretary of the Museum Association of Vác and, from 1906, its President. He played a significant role in setting up the museum in Vác, developing,  preserving it and ensuring its professional operation, as well as acquiring municipal and state aid.

He edited the series of Books of Vác, some of which were written by him. He assembled thematic collections about the local history of Vác, documented the events of his era, brought everyday objects and printed documents to the museum.  He compiled a descriptive register for the Exhibition in 1912, a source-book of great importance still today.

He maintained contacts with outstanding people of museology of the period, and learned from them. He explored Hungarian and foreign archives, investigated works of literature and art, carried out interviews, collected anecdotes, as he was interested in everything and everyone in connection with Vác. According to those people who knew him and based on former caricatures, he was  a distinctively dressed peculiar person. He was an Honorary Citizen of Vác, the principal adviser of the government, member of Szent István Academy, and, even during his life, some suggestion were made to name the museum of Vác after him, which he declined. After his death, in the 1950s this idea did not emerged again. So the museum of Vác  adopted his name in May 1990.

His more important work includes: Pictures and the Castle of Vác (1906), History of Vác in 1848-49 (1908), Descriptive Register of Collections compiled in the Museum of Vác (1912),  Streets and Squares in Vác (1918), History of Vác (1927, 1929), Place Names and Property Names in Vác and its limits  (1935), Cradles of Vác - Coffins of Vác  (1938)