Open Air Museum in Szentendre
Address: 2000 Szentendre, Sztaravodai street
The interest in village dwellings arouse in the second half of the 18th century in the northern and western parts of Europe then, with some delay, on the rest of the continent. This was a period when ethnography came, in harmony with the emergence of national cultures, of age, when the foundations of consciousness of origin and identity were laid. Researchers studied dwelling houses and other areas of rural life, established house types, described their regional versions and looked for the archetype to derive national architecture from. The appearance of peasant houses at world exhibitions in the latter half of the 19th century, albeit mainly out of social political considerations, indicated widening interest.
Authenticity of material or structure was not aimed at. Still, the domestic and sacral buildings shown at the world exhibitions in Paris (1867) then in Vienna (1873), despite their unauthentic formation, increased the interest of both researchers and the general public in the buildings of simple people. They also enabled the comparison of village houses in different countries. At the Vienna exhibition 9 peasant houses were on view from all over the monarchy. With their more or less original furniture, they were very popular.