More than a museum, it’s a living room

They warned me about the pushers, the hookers, and the criminals. It was where the minorities lived. All of them, it seemed.

I looked at more than 50 flats before I found the one that spoke to me. And yes, it’s in the eighth, in that the locals affectionately call Nyócker.

After WWII, when many people moved to the city to find work, Józsefváros was an obvious choice to settle, being close to two railway stations – Keleti and the old Józsefváros station. They brought with them a distinctive rural vibe that they replicated with many of the one- and two-storey buildings having courtyards with grape arbours, vegetable patches, and chickens.

Forced relocation to Zuglo and Újpalota, driven by a housing shortage and poor living conditions, saw many areas in the district razed and replaced with apartment blocks. This made way for the first round of gentrification, a remodelling that continues to this day.

Over the years, I’ve watched the district change. What was once lauded as a no-go area is now being touted by publications like The Guardian, Vogue, and Condé Nast. New descriptives include gritty, delightfully shabby, and arty.

Home to about 9,000 foreigners, the district’s municipality is on the ball, hosting an English-language community forum on 26 September to answer questions and an anchored website to share what’s going on.

In 2022, the idea of a district museum was first floated – the Józsefvárosi Múzeum. The collection began. Items and stories donated by residents depicting the history of the district and its people were gathered. A team of three curators got to work on researching and designing the exhibitions that cover 38 topics and are now housed in the former Józsefvárosi Galéria building at József krt. 70. The building was completely renovated, with old windows, once walled up, opened, allowing new light into the ground floor and symbolically into the district.

The museum’s director, István Tamás, says it’s more than a repository of artefacts and stories: “It lives alongside the community on the edge of cultural and social services.” As a museologist whose CV includes stints at Budapesti Történeti Múzeum and Óbudai Múzeum, this was a dream job for Tamás: building a museum from scratch.

Everything happened together. As the renovation was underway, the curators were busy researching their exhibits. The search was on for artefacts and stories. It fell to Tamás to knit it all together and to create what he proudly (and rightly so) calls “the district’s living room”.

From the faded glory of the Palota Negyed that stretches behind the National Museum to Teleki Tér market, Józsefváros has it all. There’s a tangible sense of community – just look at the list of festivals this year alone. The Józsefvárosi Múzeum is slotting in very nicely, and although a youthful addition to the neighbourhood, it’s making its mark, using “culture as a tool to improve lives.”

“The future”, Tamás told me, “is about connection. We are building our identity based on connection.”

These connections work in all directions – with the past, in the present, and towards the future.

Wandering through the exhibits (don’t forget the second floor), I had a series of wow moments. A snippet from Az Újság dated 19 April 1942 told me that when people wanted a musician to

play at a wedding or a concert or indeed for a film or TV score, they came to the Gypsy City, in search of talent like János (Jancsi) Horváth.

Endre Thék, the master furniture maker, had his factory on Üllői út in a magnificent building spanning one whole block. Bookended by two gorgeous tenement buildings, 66/B looks out of place. I’d always thought it might have been bombed and rebuilt, but no. It housed the original Thék furniture factory, its frontage inset from the two residential buildings. Only later was the monstrous new front added. I was strangely happy to have had that question answered.

This is what the Józsefvárosi Múzeum does so beautifully – it answers questions.

I didn’t know that Mother Theresa visited Budapest twice in the 1980s, and on her second visit, she left four of her sisters behind to found a convent on Tömő utca. I’ve seen them at mass and on the tram and wondered when and how they’d gotten here.

District VII might be home to the Miksa Róth museum, but before the Róth workshop operated from Nefelejcs utca, the prolific glass painter had studios on Béla Bacsó utca and Auróra utca. Róth introduced Tiffany glass to Europe; his work was in much demand.

Then there’s Ludvig Ede Nándor, the ornamental locksmith who designed a helicopter in Paris. And Lajos Braun, founder of Hungary’s first liquor company. And the famous Veres hat shop in Baross utca, a small shop that a succession of successful hatters have called home. The Cirkó Gejzir cinema, once dubbed the smallest cinema in Europe and now operating out of the fifth district, started in Józsefváros.

The list goes on. And on. And on.

Open since November 2024, the museum gets about 400 visitors a month, including district residents, other Budapestans, Hungarian visitors to the capital, and tourists. A group of Spanish lads took a watercolour course offered earlier this year. And there’s a breakfast morning at 7 am on the last Tuesday of every month.

Judit Bass, one of the receptionists at the museum, loves that she gets to meet all sorts of new people: a young lad who used to tame wolves and keep them as pets or a Mexican couple, both painters, who now call the city home. They get questions about the district, the history of the place, the building’s architecture, and how to get from A to B. Her dog, See, and her colleague Gergő’s dog, Bence, are a big draw, too.

With open doors from 10 to 6 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 1 to 7 on Thursdays and Fridays, and 10 to 6 on Saturdays, everyone is welcome. Bass is proud of what the museum offers to the community: “A free exhibition to learn about the district’s stories, interesting programmes from guided tours through painting workshops to concerts; a space for self-exploration and dialogue; a place to bring family relics and stories; a place to get to know new people; a community place to come in to work, read, play, or just have a chat.”

Next time you’re down Corvin way, pop in. You’ll be glad you did. I’ve been twice, now, and it’s fast becoming a favourite. I might even see you there.

Oh, and follow them on Facebook, too, to see what’s coming up.