Kindergarten Museum Martonvásár

Kindergarten Museum Martonvásár NicholasManila (Atlas Obscura User)

Only a 15-minute walk from the train station lies Martonvásár’s wonderful, cute little town center, and nestled within it is also a cute little history museum. This museum has been running in Martonvásár since 1995 and it displays the history of kindergartens in Hungary, from their invention to various schooling tactics and toys owned by children over the years.

Kindergartens in Hungary were invented by a member of the nobility family known as the Brunszviks, who had an estate in Martonvásár, her name was Teréz Brunszvik. Brunszvik and her family have a dedicated room in the museum. Although the family’s history is interesting, the real highlight of this museum is the vast collection of old toys and items used in kindergartens over the years.

From elaborate playsets, and models, to simple wooden toys to even communist-era propaganda for children. The exhibition presents items that are from the earliest Hungarian kindergartens opened by Brunszvik in 1828 to the kindergartens of the 1960s. Some say that the first kindergarten in all of Central Europe was opened in Hungary.

Know Before You Go

The museum is only a 15-minute walk from the Martonvásár train station.

You can get to Martonvásár from Budapest with the Budapest-Déli station, the Kelenföld station, or the Kőbánya-Kispest station. It takes only about 30 minutes to arrive in the town from Budapest. The easiest way to buy train tickets in Hungary is with the MÁV phone application. Most descriptions in the kindergarten museum are only in Hungarian.