Postamúzeum

About the museum

The collecting of the Postamúzeum's material began in 1881 in an upper-floor room of the Budapest main post office, where devices and parts kept in reserve for the telegraph office were stored. The collection was first presented to the public at the national exhibition of 1885, and then grew into an increasingly significant museum collection.

Since 2012 the museum has been based in the house at Benczúr utca 27 in District VI, which has served the cultural life of postal workers since 1931. The permanent exhibition on the second floor is titled “Elsők között…” (Among the First…) and presents the respects in which the Royal Hungarian Post was first, or among the first in the world or in Europe: in employing women, in putting petrol-engined vehicles into service, in introducing the postcard in 1869, and in the telecommunications innovations of postal engineers.

The exhibition presents the technical history of the post with models, original vehicles, manually operated telephone exchanges, a pneumatic tube system, Morse telegraphs and telex machines; several devices can be observed in operation, and some can even be tried out. Alongside it, a temporary exhibition space renewed every six months also operates.

Highlights

• Among the first… – innovations of the Royal Hungarian Post, with models and original vehicles
• Manually operated telephone exchanges, pneumatic tube and Morse telegraph, with devices to try
• The Csonka-type mail-collecting tricycle and the experimental postal van
• The history of the introduction of the postcard
• Museum education sessions and an online museum

Permanent exhibition

• Elsők között… – Presents in five rooms the innovations of the Royal Hungarian Post: the motorised mail-collecting tricycle, the situation of women postal workers, the postcard and the technical history of telecommunications, with models, vehicles and devices to try.

Admission & discounts

Free admission: On national holidays (15 March, 20 August, 23 October) everyone may visit the museum free of charge; on the third Sunday of every month, visitors under 26 and up to two close relatives accompanying them (with a companion under 18) may enter free of charge.

Free admission for children under 6, people aged 70 and over, persons with disabilities, teachers, journalists, and members of the Pulszky Társaság (Pulszky Society) and the Magyar Vidéki Múzeumok Szövetsége (Association of Hungarian Provincial Museums); free admission must be proven with a card. The temporary exhibition may be visited without a separate ticket.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Kids’ birthday parties

Museum education sessions for school groups, for example “Levél a múltból” (Letter from the Past), “Titkosan írva” (Written in Secret) and “Küldj üzenetet dróton!” (Send a Message by Wire!), and a birthday programme with guided tour and games. In the exhibition the telephone exchange, the pneumatic tube and the telegraph can be tried out; children can listen to a fairy tale on the telephone.

Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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