Report
to the Minister of Religious and Educational Affairs
by
Pál C. Voit
on Museums, Museum Collections and
Privately-Owned Art Works in Western Transdanubia, August 1945
[...]
In Vasszécsény both 17th-century Eber gényi houses
are undamaged. The older one serves as a recreation centre for the Russian
military. There is no way of getting in, and the fate of the furniture
and fittings is unknown. The Ambrózy-Migazzi palace at Tanakajd
is still standing; its furnishings have been recently broken up and its
bo tanical gardens destroyed, including the famous cedar of Lebanon. At
Táplán szent kereszt the Rosenberg (Széll) house is
still standing; its furnishings were de stroyed recently. The home of the
Counts Szécheny was a recreation centre for Rus sian soldiers for
two months. The exterior of the Dras kovich palace is intact, the interior
destroy ed. The house at Bogát is still standing; its furniture
and fittings are mis sing. The churches at Bucsu and Vát-Szent kút
have been looted; the church at Nemes lõd is being used as a stable.
The museum at Vasvár was stripped by German soldiers billeted in
it. The liturgical objects of the church and monastery at Vasvár
are still there.
On August 3 we went on to Kõszeg, where, according to information
received from Father Székely, the parish's Gothic monstrance and
Gothic chalices have survived and are safe, as are the devotional objects
of the parish church and those of the Benedictines. However, the Baroque
statues in the Calvary Chapel have been broken up. Almost without exception,
the old Kõszeg families have remained in their homes, with the result
that some houses of historical value today enjoy the protection their owners
can give them. On the other hand, it came to my attention that the Chernel
palace at Kõszeg--the owners of which, the Baron Mike and the Baron
Schelwer families, are living abroad--was being emptied at the very time
we were there. Hurrying to the scene, I discovered that, in the courtyard,
there was already a large quantity of antique furniture awaiting transportation.
In the upstairs rooms I found representatives of the local Com munist Party,
who were making arrangements for further shipments. The representatives
of the Com munist Party declared that the Russian military command had
sequestered the furnishings of the palace, and that when the sequestration
order was lifted, it had commissioned the party to distribute the movable
items among the poor of the town.
[...]
On the way back, we did not manage to visit the country homes at Ikervár
and Sárvár because in these, as in country houses generally,
recreation centres for the Russian military are operating. Since we had
no papers from the Russian military authorities, our attempts at entry
were vain. According to information received from the parish priest at
Sárvár, the owner, Prince Franz of Bavaria, sent two trainloads
of material from the castle and the estate to Germany (Leitstetten, Bavaria)
well before the liberation took place. The liturgical objects of the church
at Sárvár are intact. At Szentivánfa, Mária
Bezerédj's Empire-style home, along with its furniture and fittings,
was destroyed by the Arrow Cross. With the exception of the library and
the archives, all was burnt, including the picture gallery on the first
floor, old furniture and works of art. The gold objects, the items of goldsmith's
work and the silver items belonging to Bishop Bezerédj were probably
taken away by the Germans. The Arrow Cross set up an executioners' school
at Szentivánfa, where aspirant executioners were trained in hanging
and other execution techniques. In order to obliterate the traces of the
summary court held in the building, three party workers were left behind
to set the building on fire, together with the art works it contained.
[...]
According to information from Sándor Erdõdy, the war museum
"in safekeeping" at Count Péter Erdõdy's home at
Somlyó vár, on the border of Veszprém county, has
been broken up by the soldiery and is completely destroyed. Some pieces
from the collection of old uniforms can be seen on Gypsies in the village,
who derive great pleasure from walking around in the old, ornate dress
uniforms of generals. The castle of Rum, in which Count Móric Széchenyi
had magnificent 18th-century Hungarian furniture brought from the house
at Pápa, also presents a picture of desolation. In the park one
can still see an enormous inlaid wardrobe from the time of Maria Theresa,
used by the inmates there as a commode.
On August 6 we went on to Szent gotthárd, where, in line with my
mission, I was to look for art works transported there from other parts
of the country. On the basis of information gained by Dr Zoltán
Oroszlán, of the Museum of Fine Arts, and with the co-operation
of János Nemes, a Szombathely detective, and the cooperation of
the Szentgotthárd police, I began the investigation. The threads
of a short, one-and-a-half-day inquiry led on the one hand to Budapest,
and on the other abroad and to Szentgotthárd and its vicinity. Concerning
details of the investigation, which may be termed delicate, I have prepared
a separate, confidential report, one copy of which I enclose for the Minister
of Religious and Educational Affairs and one copy for István Genthon,
Curator of the Museum of Fine Arts, with a view to further inquiries.
Regarding art works "rescued" by the former curator Dénes
Csánky, it can be established that the most valuable consignment
was probably that which left the country by road for Germany. Because loading
was interrupted, some items were left in the courtyard at the Cistercian
monastery at Szentgotthárd, while others were left in the passage
leading to the monastery cellars, and yet another portion in the locked
air-raid shelter in the cellars.
In the confusion of the liberation, many of the boxes were broken open,
and the air-raid shelter was plundered. Between the liberation, the drawing
up of an inventory by Ministry official Dr Irén Várady, and
their transportation back, much time elapsed, during which there was ample
opportunity for unauthorized persons to gain access. This was when the
painting we discovered in a Szentgotthárd school sick bay could
have left the monastery. This large oil painting (approx. 240 x 160 cm),
Hagar at the Well, and which has a gilded frame, was damaged in two or
three places. It had a red stamp on its back reading: "Miksa Schiffer,
Certified Engineer". Because of its size, I was unable to take it
with me in the car, and it is temporarily safeguarded in its present location.
[...]
On August 7 we established contact in Körmend with János
Kõszegi, a headmaster who, according to information we had obtained
in Szombathely, was already zealously and successfully rescuing the archives
of the Princes Batthyány-Stratt mann. He said he was present some
two months ago when tapestries bearing the Batthyány coat of arms
and rare Persian carpets from the antiques collection were taken away in
trucks by soldiers of unknown nationality. The renowned weap ons collection
has been broken up, thrown out or taken away by the Cossacks billeted in
the house. One Cossack tried out the pride of the collection, the exquisite
14-century ivory saddle from the time of King Sigismund, much discussed
in Hungarian art history. Despite all Kõszegi's pleas, this Cossack--although
he could see that he could not use it for riding--then put the saddle in
his sack and took it away. Against a receipt, I brought with me to Budapest
a single broken item salvaged from the huge weapons collection--a Turkish
17th-century dagger.
The task of custodian in Körmend was delegated to János Kõszegi
and Chaplain Lajos Koltay. The oratory of the church was designated as
the place of sequestration, and a copy of the inventory drawn up in the
presence of the the local authorities was placed in the town archives.
János Kõszegi's thorough local knowledge made it possible
for us to enter the house--which was occupied by the Russian military--through
a back door. Inside we were greeted by a most distressing sight. The paintings
in the marble hall, the "sala terrena", were missing. They showed
the ancestors of the Batthyánys and are highly valuable from the
history of costume point of view. According to Kõszegi, these works
were cut into strips by the soldiers.
[...]
With regard to the Esterházy palace at Eszterháza, news
of the worst kind had reached Sopron. It is impossible to get near it,
its furnishings have been cast out and, according to rumour, at Eszterháza
the women sit on Baroque chairs from the palace when milking cows. I called
Endre Csatkai's special attention to Eszterháza. I would remark
that in the last year Károly Diebold, a Sopron photographer, did
manage to take some splendid photographs of the palace interior, to which
it was always difficult to gain access. The photographs were made into
an album, and I recommend acquisition of this for the library of the Museum
of Applied Arts, so that the interiors of this magnificent, destroyed edifice
and its furnishings are made accessible to posterity, at least through
photographs of the appropriate standard.
On August 10, we reached Kapuvár via Fertõszéplak
and Fertõszentmiklós. There the church's liturgical objects
are--apart from one modern chalice--intact. The house, which in the past
served only as flats for farm bailiffs, houses the local headquarters of
the Democratic Federation of Hungarian Youth (MADISZ). At Csorna the liturgical
objects of the Premonstraten sian priory are unharmed, although the buildings
have in the meantime been used for military purposes. Their two chasubles
(one made of Louis Quinze silver brocade from Lyons) and the "golden
diadem" are in a safe place. In Gyõr the liturgical objects
of the churches have survived. One part of the town museum material that
was packed up into chests was apparently taken to Brennberg, near Sopron.
The state of the unclassified museum material belonging to the Benedictine
gimnázium has not changed. In Gyõr, I appointed the town's
Chief Archivist, Dr Ferenc Bay, to act as a custodian, requesting him to
establish contact with the local authorities and with the Government Commission
for Abandoned Property, especially since the last-named has already collected
museum-type material. Because Jenei, the former director of the town museum,
has departed for the West, I gave the official com-mission to Dr Ferenc
Bay. I asked him to ensure that the sequestration plate demanded from Budapest
for the house at Hédervár reaches its destination, and that
sequestration be implemented--if desired by the owner, Károly Khuen-Héderváry.
Despite the instructions I received in Budapest, I was unable to go out
personally to Hédervár, because petrol for the car was beginning
to run low. For the same reason we were forced to leave Moson magyaróvár,
and to start homewards.
On August 11, after a ten-day official journey, we left for Budapest. János
Kapossy stayed behind in Csorna, from where he returned to Szombathely.
With regard to my tour of inspection, which covered the war-torn region
of Western Transdanubia, I returned with de vastating impressions. Sometimes
thanks to the force of state authority, sometimes through talking and persuasion,
I managed to do everything possible to save the appallingly mutilated relics
of the Hun garian past. But in most places I arrived too late, or else
my efforts were blocked by obstacles we were unable to surmount, obstacles
which are still insurmountable today. This was especially the case with
regard to the treasures of the country houses. I was able to establish
that in this region 80 per cent of the art relics from the Hungarian past
have been destroyed, without real hope that this figure could be reduced,
or that the still-present danger of destruction could be allayed, or that
I could make any recommendation that might possibly save art treasures
that continue to be destroyed, beyond protective measures contained in
a government decree.
Fair copy. Hungarian National Archives, K 726 461/1945.
