Start to the Year in the Collection 2025

On the occasion of the Hungarian Culture Day, we are organising our annual New Year’s kick-off event for the third time, the main purpose of which is to present to our colleagues working in the field of public collections, our friends who are committed to the cause of museums, archives and libraries, our achievements in the past year and the new additions to the collection of the Otto von Habsburg Foundation.

In 2024, the legacy of Heinrich Degenfeld-Schönburg (1890-1978) – Otto von Habsburg’s tutor and later secretary – arrived in Budapest, containing numerous historical objects and documents of Hungarian relevance related to the history of the Habsburg dynasty and the period between the two world wars. In addition to presenting these, we are also commemorating a current anniversary: one hundred years ago, on 6 January 2025, our namesake’s wife, Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, was born – and we have organised an exhibition in Meiningen, Thuringia, to mark the occasion.

Regina’s colourful family history is interestingly linked to Hungary: her great-grandfather, Prince George II, one of the first representatives of modern theatre, first visited Budapest 150 years ago, in 1875, with his company, and, due to the great success, returned three more times. Philipp Adlung, Director of the Meiningen Museums, will give a lecture on the fate of his legacy and plans for a national German theatre history museum, including a general overview of the state of public collections in the former German Democratic Republic.

Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, will give a welcoming address.

Between the speeches, Johannes Brahms’ Sonata for Piano and Clarinet in E-flat major will be performed by Zsolt Szatmári, clarinet, Balázs Fülei, piano.

Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in Hungarian and German.

We look forward to welcoming you!