Bányászati Múzeum, Őslény- és Kőzettár

About the museum

The museum operates in the surviving buildings of the former Ármin-akna (Ármin Shaft) of Ajka’s coal mining, in the park forest of the Csinger Valley. Hoisting in the shaft ended in 1959, but the two Schlick steam engines standing in the engine house since 1903 have remained in their original condition. The building complex, including the engine house and the shaft house, was declared a listed monument in 1983 and was renovated to mark the centenary of mining. The museum is one of the first open-air technical memorial sites in Hungary.

The exhibition consists of the shaft-hoisting engine house, the shaft house, the blacksmith’s workshop and the former transformer house, where documents of Ajka’s coal mining are presented. The demonstration adit, 54 metres long and inaugurated in 1977, illustrates underground work and the various methods of roadway support; the courtyard machinery park, covering some three thousand square metres, brings together nearly two hundred mining machines and tools.

The Őslény- és Kőzettár (Palaeontological and Rock Collection) is housed in the former mine rescue station building and presents a collection of around a thousand rocks, minerals and fossils. Its speciality is the ajkaite, the fossilised form of Cretaceous conifer resin named after the town, and a palaeontological find from the Ajka area. The institution is today run by the Csingervölgy Nonprofit Kft.

Highlights

• Schlick steam engines from 1903 in original condition
• 54-metre demonstration adit
• Courtyard machinery park with nearly two hundred mining machines and tools
• Palaeontological and rock collection with ajkaite and a local fossil find
• Museum education sessions and an escape room

Permanent exhibitions

• Bányászati Múzeum – gépház, aknaház, bemutatótáró és géppark – The original shaft-hoisting engine house with its 1903 steam engines, the shaft house, the blacksmith’s workshop, the documentary exhibition, the 54-metre demonstration adit and the courtyard mining-machine collection.
• Őslény- és Kőzettár – A collection of around a thousand rocks, minerals and fossils, including coal, bauxite and manganese rocks from the Ajka area, ajkaite and the Ajkaceratops find.

Operated by

Csingervölgy Nonprofit Kft.

Admission & discounts

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

Museum education sessions (Ajka was a good place 85 million years ago, Bányakaland (“Mining Land”)), movable mining machines, rides in a mine trolley and an escape room.

Getting there & parking

The museum is outside the town, in the park forest of the Csinger Valley, close to popular hiking routes.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit