Besides being one of the trustees of the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, Count György Károlyi has many ties to the Habsburg family through his ancestors. His grandfather, József Károlyi, was of great help to King Charles IV and his family during the exile that followed the dethronement. During our visit, we also met Erika Peredi, the headmaster of the village’s primary school named after Count József Károlyi. She presented documents and photographs that documented Otto von Habsburg’s visit in 1999, on the occasion of the institution’s naming ceremony. In recent years, a number of important legacies have been deposited in the castle in Fehérvárcsurgó, and their processing poses a similar professional challenge to the one we are facing with the documents of Otto von Habsburg. By processing the legacies of Szabolcs Vajay, Ferenc Fejtő, Tamás Schreiber and Miklós Frank, the József Károlyi Foundation has taken on a huge task, which deserves great respect. It seems only natural to develop closer cooperation in archival work, taking advantage of potential synergies. With the upcoming 100th anniversary of the birth of Szabolcs Vajay on 9 October 2021, the possibility of a conference on the methodology of archival processing was raised, which would also be a fitting tribute to the life’s work of the outstanding Hungarian genealogist. Seeing the fantastic work that the Károlyi couple has done in the past decades to turn the dilapidated building into a significant collection and conference centre, the Otto von Habsburg Foundation, in cooperation with the hosts, plans to organise more joint events and summer universities in the castle in the future.
