“The educated German goes on a pilgrimage to the Goethe House in Frankfurt, the Italian poet is moved to new enthusiasm from the approach seen in Petrarch’s one-time flat. Some kind of secret and incontrollable thirst attracts the culture man to where some big man used to live, fight with his labouring ideas and put his works on paper. I was fuelled by the same desire when, despite me being unknown, I asked for a permit from Imre Madách’s successors and son, Aladár, to visit the great poet’s home. I was anyway interested to see the correlation that must exist between the historical ideology of The Tragedy of Man [original title: Az ember tragédiája] and the past that the poet’s family had had; I could not apprehend the procedure taken by those who characterized Imre Madách and his work without having seen his home.”

These are the lines that the teacher of the Hungarian Royal State Grammar School in Lučenec Mihály Latkóczy phrased to start his report on his pilgrimage to Strehová. The 13-page description, comparable with a document, where the site of Imre Madách’s life and work is still vivified in the same form as in the poet’s life was published in the Emlékalbum [Remembrance Album] of Magyar Szemle [Hungarian Review] in 1898.

Master Latkóczy was not the first and not the last visitor to the manor house in Strehová. He took honour and devotion in visiting the building which at that time was not yet a literary memorial site but, naturally, the residence of the Madách offspring. The manor house was opened to the general public, to common men much later (actually, 45 years ago), though, unfortunately, not at all in its original form.

From among the casual guests paying a visit to Imre Madách’s son Aladár and, after his death, to his daughter Flóra, mentioned as Lola (1893-1980), Lajos Horánszky (1871-1944), member of the Kisfaludy Society was a prominent personality. He came from Budapest in July 1932 and, based on the effectual support of the Society and the involvement of illustrious personalities and political public actors, he performed arduous organizational work to have a condign and dateless memory of Imre Madách in the new shrine ornamented with the figure of Adam by the sculptor Alajos Rigele.

The Madách Memorial Committee was first established in 1877 (Nógrádi Lapok [Nógrád Papers] and Honti Hiradó [Hont News], 9&23 July 1893). The first outcome was the two Madách portraits, ordered from the painter in Dolné Strháre Lajos Kubányi who actually visited the Madách Manor House in his childhood. One of the oil paintings was made for the civilian school in Balassagyarmat, whereas the other was for the main grammar school in Lučenec and was placed in its „board room” (Losoncz és Vidéke [Lučenec and Vicinity], 20&27 October 1889). The latter, „Madách with a sword” was finally placed in the manor house in Strehová. The second Madách Cenotaph Committee was set up in 1923, the year of the centenary in Lučenec, under the leadership of the attorney at law Dr. János Giller who later established the cenotaph (19 December 1936) in collaboration with the above-mentioned Lajos Horánszky.

The paintings, the cenotaph, the sculpture have been treasuring Imre Madách’s memory since. No Madách memorial museum was on the agenda then, given that the manor house practically served as a private flat. The ordeal that the building (which deserved a lot more and was full of furnishings of inestimable value) had to go through began as early as by the end of the 1930’s when Flóra Madách (born in Dolná Strehová in 1893, died in Sao Paolo in 1980) and her second husband Dr. Pál Lázár got so much indebted that „the debts, interests and costs altogether considerably, perhaps double exceed the value of the estate, so there is nothing left but auction” – wrote János Giller to Lajos Horánszky in 1937.

World War II and its outcomes sealed the fate of the manor house in Strehová, though, compared to a lot of other so-called „feudal” Hungarian memorial sites, it had a relatively fortunate history.

After 1945, the historic building became a „public treasure”, based on the principle of everything belongs to the working people. Anyone could appropriate anything from the building. The main entrance with the stairway was taken apart, its wrought-iron hand-rail was taken to the scrap iron yard. The windows were banged out, the original window frames and doors were also damaged. The ornamented inlaid floor was torn up. A lot of trees were felled in the English park encircling the manor house. Some spared and more or less reconditioned rooms were transformed for school purposes. This is where education was provided as long as the new school building, which severely disturbs the historical environment in the direct vicinity of the manor house, was completed.

„The room where Imre Madách used to live and write his masterpiece is a lumber room now but I will make a museum here in progress of time. I would like to get hold of the former publications of the Tragedy, the photos of Madách and his family, and articles about the poet and his work. I have so far received three publications of The Tragedy of Man, some photos and articles” – said the teacher of the school in the manor house Zoltán Batel (who recognized and appreciated the spirit of the place) to the reporter of the paper A Hét [The Week] Béla Balázs in 1955. He was not to be blamed for his nice plans not becoming true, and not only because he was relocated from Strehová. He later handed over the materials and objects that he had saved and collected to Madách Museum which was then being established. Béla Balázs also reported that there were plans to restore the manor house and recondition the park, which had been classified protected in 1955, but the cenotaph which got damaged in the war could not be covered from the budget.

The competent officials declared the cenotaph a monument and partly reconditioned it in 1960, thanks to the Csemadok literature circle in Lučenec. Some enthusiastic and committed persons kept the process of safeguarding the memory of Imre Madách on the agenda, as a continuation of the initiatives originally taken in Lučenec in the 1930’s and ’40s, with the aim of nurturing the traditions. Later, in 1964, they also had an active part is preparing and arranging the long awaited event.

Béla Balázs wrote a critical report under the title Unsettled case – What about Madách Museum? [original title: Elintézetlen ügy – Mi van a Madách Múzeummal] in the daily Új Szó [New Word] in January 1964: „This is about appreciating the memory of an author of world literary rank, a pride of all nations. Instead of quick actions, some today are still (at five to twelve) carefully deliberating about who this author is in fact, if he created something great or not… although never will we have any better occasion than now, on the hundredth anniversary of the poet’s death, to pay a deserving tribute to the memory of Imre Madách and complete the museum.”.

The process was already ongoing by this time. At the initiative of the literature circle in Lučenec, the Educational and Cultural Section of the District-level National Committee (DNC) in Lučenec already had a plan to furnish three rooms in the manor house in Strehová, then used as a warehouse for the cooperative, as a museum and to hold a ceremonial opening by late May. But the mills of our then party and government ground slowly. Still, 1964, the one hundredth anniversary of Imre Madách’s death brought about some change, mainly because UNESCO, and what’s more (which was more important in the socialist block), even the so-called World Peace Council recommended to celebrate the Madách centenary, a momentous anniversary of mankind, worldwide.

The Slovak National Council similarly attached importance to duly celebrating, amidst the Czechoslovakian socialist cultural policy, the internationally recognized anniversary of the author of The Tragedy of Man, especially because this was stipulated in the cultural agreement between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the People’s Republic of Hungary.

The memorial site, the manor house in Rococo-Classicist style in Dolná Strehová, registered as a monument, was still in very poor condition.

It was in these circumstances that Géza Balassa (born in Hornỷ Devičani in 1914, died in Bratislava in 1994) (whose efforts to save the manor house in Strehová and establish the Madách Memorial Museum were recognized with a plaque, uncovered in the corridor of the manor house on 10 June 2009) appeared on the scene and created something dateless. The committed monument protection expert could not live to see this. Sadly enough, his activity including his biggest work, the grandiose Strehová project was not duly appreciated in his lifetime. His story was committed to paper by his son Zoltán Balassa in the 1965 bulletin of the Monument Protection Centre in Banská Bystrica District (Zpravodaj krajského strediska štátnej pamiatkovej starostlivosti a ochrany prírody v Banskej Bystrici), based on his father’s published report and personal accounts. Hereinafter, the events 45 years ago will be recalled on the basis of this writing, which was presented at the first Madách Symposium in 1993 and published in Vol. 1 of Madách Library under the title Conditions of establishing Imre Madách Museum [original title: A Madách Imre Múzeum keletkezésének körülményei], as well as the archives of the National Committee in Lučenec District and the then press publications:

„The above described sad conditions were prevailing in spring 1964 when the National Committee in Lučenec District convened a meeting in the subject of the Madách Festival. As usual, a lot of rigmarole was going on about what to do but no tangible proposal was made. Those present decided to hold a memorial event beside the grave, organize a cultural program and that is it. Anyway, nothing more could be expected in such a short while. But then Géza Balassa representing the Central Slovakian Monument Protection Centre made a proposal to organize an exhibition. The answer was that there were not enough people, and a lot of other objections were also enumerated. My father announced that he would provide financial funds for the repairs, so at least one or two rooms could be restored. Finally he asked when the scenario was to be completed by, so that actual work could be commenced. The answer was not delayed. Even if the libretto were available, it would already be late, though something could still be done. Géza Balassa was prepared for this turn. He rightly foresaw that no one had in mind that a scenario were to be made, and then in that very moment he thought it was high time to present his own draft. Here you are, here it is, we should discuss it and it could immediately be finalized. There was great surprise and some faces began to brighten. The negotiations were boosted. Balassa agreed to provide the funds and manage the work, but he stipulated that the district bodies were to supply the skilled workers. The participants accepted the proposal.”

The regionally competent state administrative authority, the Educational and Cultural Section of DNC in Lučenec discussed and approved the below draft proposal on 4 May 1964:

„The DNC Council understands the extraordinary report and sets out the below tasks

1. to the Chairman comrade of the DNC Planning Panel: to ask the Planning Panel of the Central Slovakian District-level National Committee to transfer a sum for the renovation of the facility in Dolná Strehová, for a memorial room to be made. Term: 15.05.1964.

2. to the Chairman comrade of the Educational and Cultural Section of DNC: to regularly assess, in the Committee meetings, the preparatory works for opening the Imre Madách memorial room. The task is permanent.

3. to the Chairman comrade of the Constructions Panel: to facilitate the performance of the renovation works. Term: 31.05.1964.”

The proposal underlying the above decisions evaluates the importance of Madách in brief and emphasizes that this year’s anniversary of his death is ranked among the cultural anniversaries of the World Peace Council, so holding a celebration is in fact stipulated in the cultural agreement between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the People’s Republic of Hungary. The document names the following institutions as those interested in the preparation of the centenary:

„Educational and Cultural Section of the Slovak National Council (SNC); Educational and Cultural Section of the Central Slovakian District-level National Committee (CNC); Educational and Cultural Section of DNC; Local National Committee (LNC) in Dolná Strehová, under the management of the party organizations; Slovak Authors’ Society; Csemadok; Slovakian Committee of Peace Defenders.

The planned festivities will begin with a ceremonial eve in Lučenec on 3 October 1964 and continue on the 4th with the opening ceremony of the memorial room in Dolná Strehová where the Consul General of the Hungarian People’s Republic in Bratislava and other renowned guests are expected to be present.”

Afterwards, going into technical details, the document states that “the facility in Dolná Strehová is not in good condition, requires complete renovation which would cost Kčs 239,106, based on a preliminary budget made by the Banská Bystrica district centre for monument and nature protection. CNC offers Kčs 50,000 support to furnish the memorial room (materials, furniture).

Since the Educational Section of DNC does not have funds available for this purpose, the renovation works cannot be started, so the funds are requested to be transferred from the Planning Panel of the District-level National Committee. We wish to note that there is not much time available for lengthy administration because the construction companies will not be able to do the renovation works ahead of the plan. The whole activity is also essential for tourism because the Madách memorial room must be integrated in Hungarian hiking trails. The Educational and Cultural Section of DNC discussed this topic as early as on 29 April 1964 when comrade M. Ličková was appointed the Chairwoman of the preparatory committee. This committee will have permanent relations with State Propaganda Department 6 of SNC, the Central Committee of Csemadok and the Educational and Cultural Section of CNC.

Comrade Ličková was not fond of Hungarian culture, still, as a party commitment, she had to accept the chairwoman’s position in the committee where, however, she did not perform any activity in the merit.

Luckily enough, there were some there – the committed members of the literature circle in Lučenec, the district secretary of Csemadok Béla Koncz and a young agile district-based educational superintendent and later teacher of Hungarian in the secondary grammar school in Fil’akovo László Szakó – who attached importance to the fate of the Madách Manor House.

The restoration works were commenced in summer 1964. The bricklayers reconditioned the walls, the carpenters reroofed and repaired the roof structure. The joiners made new windows and doors. The original inlaid parquet was restored in the big hall. The tinsmith Milan Horváth masterfully renovated the tin finials. The grand staircase leading to the southern entrance, including the annexed wrought-iron handrail, was reconstructed. These works were carried out by the Modrỷ Kameň-based division of the Lučenec District Construction Company, under the management of Pál Bergmann. The Hungarian workers worked with such enthusiasm, affection and competence that the whole manor house, excluding some insignificant rooms, was reborn in one and a half months.

The torso of a stone slab was found during the works: it was built in the wall of the manor house, in a visible location.

Originally, the inscribed slab used to read on the façade of the old manor house demolished in the 1920’s that it had been in the property of the Madách family in as early as 1430 and its renovation had been ordered by Sándor Sztregovai Madách, the poet’s grandfather, in 1799 from its ruins after the Turkish devastation and the fires.

Since the original furnaces did not survive, Balassa also had the two furnaces of the one-time manor house in Ostrá Lúka transported and built up in Strehová.

The renovation works were in the beginning led by Géza Balassa, then by the engineer and teacher of the Constructions Vocational School in Lučenec Tibor Ferenczy, and were finally completed under the supervision of the handicraft and copper embossing artist and bookbinder Zsigmond Hubacsek, resident in Lučenec (1906-1972).

Géza Balassa also bothered about having the English park (which surrounded the manor house) partially restored. The students of the school in Strehová planted 1550 plants, 150 trees and some ornamental bushes under the management of the gardener for the city park of Lučenec János Pupala. The park was fenced off and the path from the manor house to Madách’s grave was also reconditioned after Balassa’s plans.

Selecting, collecting and preparing the materials for the exhibition after Balassa’s scenario meant a demanding work that implied, among others, the need to overcome a number of obstacles and use personal relations. The exhibition was intended to manifest not only the poet’s life but also his age. In this regard, Géza Balassa praised the helpful attitude of the renowned Madách investigator and collector József Szabó, resident in Balassagyarmat, and the director of the museum in Balassagyarmat József Zólyomi. Thanks had to be rendered to the archivist L. Krizsán for the documents received from the Slovakian libraries and archives.

According to László Szakó, Róbert Miklós and Dénes Lengyel from the Budapest Petőfi Literary Museum rendered effective assistance in this regard, just as Mr. Sebestyén from the National Széchenyi Library. The photocopies of the materials from the archive were made by the photographers of Protopopov in Banská Štavnica. Zsigmond Hubacsek brought the photos of the Tragedy performances in theatres in Budapest and Miskolc with, following his delegation to Hungary.

The final design of the documentary exhibition, which was continually being transformed and changed, had to be approved in content. László Szakó made relevant arrangements through the literary historians Dr. Lajos Turczel and Dr. Sándor Csanda from Bratislava.

Imre Madách’s head sculpture (the work of the sculptor Ferenc Sidló (1882)) was taken across the border from Balassagyarmat by László Szakó. According to Géza Balassa, József Zólyomi got hold of the bronze sculpture from the Budapest-resident sister of Madách’s biographer Zsolt Harsányi.

Balassa turned to Dr. Ibolya Lackóné Kiss (1894-1980) with regard to the inscription on the plaque which was to be placed on the wall of the manor house. Quotation from the authoress’ reply letter: “After our telephone conversation yesterday, I have the feeling that a question was addressed to me due to the plaque to be made on the occasion of the Madách centenary… In my humble opinion the following would be sound as an inscription on the plaque (sic!):

Here lived, created his immortal work »The Tragedy of Man« and deceased
I m r e M a d á c h
x 21. Jan. 1823. † 5. Oct. 1864.
»O Man, strive on, strive on, have faith; and trust!«

Or perhaps you could have this quotation:

»The cause doth live and burns, a glowing flame
To light the world for centuries to come.«

or:

»Tempest when cometh swiftly
Deem my nation is waking,
Making an account and on its soreness
Is its past gone – and future reviving.«

Each of the three quotations reflects Madách’s spirit and the last one is up-to-date from a political point, too… Since I wish to take part in the festivities in Strehová, I kindly ask You, dear Professor to have an official invitation sent to me so that I could get some days off. I agreed with Madách’s great-granddaughter (who is my friend) that we would attend the ceremony together. … (Her grandmother was Jolán Madách, the poet’s daughter) Moreover, I would also like to say a few words on behalf of Erzsike Fráter, and put some flowers (or grasses) from her grave in Oradea on her husband’s grave. To this end, I have already written to my school mate in Oradea, asking her to visit »Li¬dér¬cke«‘s grave in the cemetery in Oradea and send me some flowers or grasses torn off from there in an envelope...

Liptovský Mikulaš, 12 September.”

No one managed to get marble. My father (writes Zoltán Balassa) used to have two marble plates in the castle in Zvolen, with a list of the soldiers from Lučenec who were killed in World War I. A proper piece was cut off this plate and so could the plaque be done, but not using Ibolya Lackóné Kiss’s wording. The inscription on the plaque in Slovak words translates as follows:

Between 1859 and 1861, in this manor house wrote
IMRE MADÁCH
his immortal work,
The Tragedy of Man
on the occasion of the 100th anniversary
of the poet’s death. 1964

A plaque in Hungarian, with the dates of Madách’s birth and death, was placed on the wall of the manor house on 10 October 1995 only, by favour of Csemadok and the Palóc Society.

Returning to the events in 1964: “Zsigmond Hubacsek was commissioned to arrange the material of the exhibition. As the time available was short, the associates of Dom osvety (Culture House) in Banská, namely the group leader Ján Handlovsky and his colleagues rendered help. The works were managed by the painter Zábrady Karol. The costs of the exhibition were also financed by Géza Balassa. His workplace paid 60,000 crowns.

When the local residents became aware of the event under preparation, they offered minor objects which were purchased from them for the exhibition.

It was in the midst of the works, in July 1964 that Mátyás Dráfi, nowadays known as an excellent actor paid a visit to Strehová and reported in the weekly Új Ifjúság [New Youth] that “Madách Museum is on the way”. He had a conversation with the local headmaster Michal Mázor who claimed it was his idea to have the Madách Manor House restored and, to this end, “went round the offices from the LNC to the Slovak National Council”. In response to the reporter’s question if the manor house was to be completed by the anniversary, Michal Mázor replied, smiling and firmly: „Aj keby kamene padali z neba!“ (Definitely, even if stone rain were falling from the sky).

In reference to his former critical article, Béla Balázs this time wrote an appreciative, what’s more, high-spirited report under the title Settled case – Madách Museum soon to open [original title: Elintézett ügy – Rövidesen megnyílik a Madách Múzeum] in Új Szó on 22 August 1964: “Some competent persons did much more for the Madách Manor House and the Madách Museum than we had hoped and the organizers had dared to think about. The issue grew to reach a national scope and lies at our heart… Joining hands, the moral and financial support for the establishment of the museum are so immense, chivalrous and exemplary that only the voice of enthusiasm can describe it. What is currently happening in Dolná Strehová is the most expressive evidence of respecting traditions, friendship between our nations and nurturing the Hungarian-Slovakian cultural ties. This is slightly a kind of memorial, showing what man can reach with benevolence, good intent and by joining hands.”

The contributor summarized the past events and gave an account of the plans for, and actions to be made in, the coming days and weeks. He emphasized the “most extensive” support of SNC, namely that, at his proposal, CNC granted Kčs 300,000 for the works in Strehová. He admired the effective help from the museum in Balassagyarmat and, evidently, the efforts of the “literary people, Csemadok members, teachers and others from Lučenec“.

On 19 September 1964 the Educational and Cultural Section of DNC in Lučenec discussed and approved the proposal for a decision put forward by the Chairman of the Committee Milan Králik, wherein the works done so far were taken cognizance of and the program of the October festivities was finalized:

„The DNC Council takes cognizance of the report on the memorial ceremony held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Imre Madách’s death, approves that and the proposed actions, and commissions

1. the DNC Planning Section to grant Kčs 50,000 to complete the renovation of the Madách Manor House in Dolná Strehová and another Kčs 50,000 to remove the dust from the access road to the Manor House. Term: prompt. Responsible official: comrade Michál;

2. determines the composition of the delegations to the memorial ceremonies as lain down in the report;

3. the DNC Planning Section to apply for Kčs 150,000 from the Central Slovakian CNC for 1965 and a worker’s approval of the establishment of the Museum of Hungarian-Slovak Revolutionary Traditions. Term: 15 October 1965. Responsible official: Head of Section comrade Michál.

Approves

the long-term plan of establishing a Museum of Hungarian-Slovak Revolutionary Traditions (of Slovakian competence) in Dolná Strehová.“

The report underlying the decisions summarizes the precedents of the memorial ceremony including a special assessment of Imre Madách’s importance, and it details the programs of the two-day ceremony:

„5 October will mark the 100th anniversary of the day when the world-famous author Imre Madách died in Dolná Strehová where he was born, where he worked and wrote his most outstanding work The Tragedy of Man which earned him worldwide renown.

The manor house of the Madách family in Dolná Strehová, where he was born, where he lived a part of his life and where he died, has been in a rather neglected state in recent years.

Madách is indeed of outstanding importance and, following the cultural convention between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the People’s Republic of Hungary and based on an agreement between the Slovak Authors’ Society and Csemadok, becoming events will be held on the centenary of his death, such as the opening of Madách memorial rooms and a memorial ceremony on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death.

CNC granted Kčs 200,000 for the repair of the Madách Manor House. DNC in Lučenec, supported by the Modrỷ Kameň-based division of the Lučenec District Construction Company carried out the renovation works on the manor house. LNC is in charge of fencing off the site, whereas the basic school in Strehová agreed to arrange the park.

The Educational and Cultural Section of DNC made arrangements for collecting various objects for the memorial rooms, repairing some of the furnishings of the Madách family and furnishing the exhibition rooms in the Manor House.

The scenario of the memorial room was made by an associate in the District Centre of State Monument Protection comrade Géza Balassa and is implemented by the District-level Educational and Cultural Section of DNC (comrade Hubaček).

The following program is proposed to be held during the commemoration:

3 October 1964 (Saturday) – Lučenec – 7.00 p.m.

Plant-based club of the trade union of Poľana Opatová (textile shop).

Ceremonial eve in memory of Imre Madách. Opened by the Chairman of the Educational and Cultural Section of DNC in Lučenec. Ceremonial speech delivered by the leader of the delegation from the Slovak Authors’ Society. Welcome speech delivered by the leader of the delegation from the Hungarian Authors’ Society. All other parts of the program are organized by the Lučenec District Centre of Popular Culture. Performers include members of the DJGT Theatre in Banská Bystrica, the quintet from the District Symphonic Orchestra and the Komarno-based Hungarian Regional Theatre. The program lasts 90 minutes. Later, Béla Balázs made a report on this program in the 1964/12 issue of the paper Népművelés [Popular Culture] published in Bratislava: “We expected to experience an exceedingly nice and memorable program where the top rank of our national art pays homage to the person of utmost prominence in world literature and where we establish a museum to erect a memory of Slovak-Hungarian friendship… But, sadly enough, the program was not up to our expectations. It was a sour pill which we however swallowed and forgot.”



4 October 1964 (Sunday), in Dolná Strehová

11.00 a.m. – Parade to Imre Madách’s memorial (representatives of organizations)

Wreathing the memorial

Speech by the Chairman of the Educational and Cultural Section of CNC in Banská Bystrica comrade Jozef Baláž

Memorial speeches by the representatives of the Slovak and Hungarian authors’ societies.

12.00 a.m. – Ceremonial opening of Imre Madách’s memorial rooms by the Chairman of the Educational and Cultural Section of CNC comrade J. Baláž.

Visiting the memorial rooms.

2.00 p.m. – Cultural program. Performer: “Urpín” ensemble from Banská Bystrica.

Commemoration traced by: Czechoslovakian television, radio, film and cultural periodicals.

The district weekly Pokrok reported on the completion of the renovation works in Dolná Strehová and on the soon-to-open museum which is to “exhibit mainly the works that were born during Madách’s stay in Slovakia” on 2 October. According to the correspondent the Madách Museum “will also be enriched by exhibits from museums in Budapest” and “will be opened in honour of the 20th anniversary of the liberation on 9 May 1945 of our country” (…) Below a picture of the Madách cenotaph, Madách’s appreciation related to the DNC decision, included in the report and quoted above, was also published on the front page of the paper.

It was similarly on 2 October that a picture report was published in Új Szó, under the title Dolná Strehová prepared. Madách Museum to open on Sunday [original title: Alsósztregova felkészült. Vasárnap nyitják meg a a Madách-múzeumot] and written by Béla Balázs who had been continually focusing on this issue: “The desire, the old plan has been fulfilled, Madách Museum is now under roof. The event meets with everyone’s joy and unanimous recognition.”. After his earlier criticism, the journalist this time uses appreciative words as he writes about everybody: about SNC, the Central Slovakian CNC which granted Kčs 300,000 for this purpose, about LNC that rendered all help, the locals in Strehová who worked hundreds of hours and, last but not least, the literary enthusiasts in Lučenec who did not merely make plans but were with hard diligence collecting the materials, negotiating with the competent officials, organizing the preparatory works, giving advice and offering technical assistance.

„Madách Museum was realized as a result of the Hungarians’ and Slovaks’ exemplary teamwork. It expresses that our nations did not and do not only live together but they jointly maintain and nourish the progressing traditions” – writes Béla Balázs in his closing words.

The 10 October issue of the Lučenec district weekly (published in Hungarian) Haladás [Progress] reported on the grandiose event under the main title Elevating Madách festivities [original title: Felemelő Madách ünnepségek] and the subtitle Madách Museum opened in Dolná Strehová [original title: Madách Múzeum nyílt Alsósztregován]. “The ancient Madách manor house was in its rejuvenated state, expecting to welcome the good many guests coming from within and outside the country” – wrote the correspondent who emphasized that “the cultural representatives of the inland Hungarians also contributed” to the official speeches and that “our district has been enriched with fairly significant cultural values through the establishment of the Madách Museum… and it will attract thousands of visitors. The opening of the museum is also a sign to confirm that Hungarian-Slovak cultural relations are getting deeper and deeper, stronger and stronger and that the two nations mutually respect and appreciate the other’s great men.”

A detailed and subjective personal account, written by Péter Ruffy, was published in the 6 October 1964 issue of Magyar Nemzet [Hungarian Nation]:

„Everyone wore dark festive holiday dress. A flower-garden breathed forth perfume at the head of the column: Hungarian, Slovak, Slovakia-resident Hungarian pioneers and children were bringing their wreaths. Roses, dahlias, sword-lilies were flitting in the bosom of the wreaths; there were late carnations, the last flowers of autumn among the leaves of the ferns in the wet bunches of wild flowers. The first wreath was sent by the co-operative in Csesztve, Hungary, the second is being taken by students from Kossuth Secondary Grammar School in Sárospatak, the third by Slovak pioneers, the fourth by the students of the Hungarian language secondary grammar school in Vel’ké Kapušani, Czechoslovakia. The wreaths of Czech and Slovak writers, the Slovak National Council, the Hungarian Authors’ Society in Slovakia, CSEMADOK, the district-level National Council, the Hungarian and Slovakian schools are coming in endless rows.

There is a festive procession walking behind the wreaths. The Hungarian Peace Council is represented by Árpád SZAKASITS and Ernő MIHÁLYFI, and the Hungarian Authors’ Society by József DARVAS and Károly JOBBÁGY. The President of the Slovak Authors’ Society and university professor in Bratislava dr. Milan PISUT is walking beside the President of the Hungarian Authors’ Society, followed by the Secretary General of CSEMADOK Rezső SZABÓ and the editor-in-chief of Irodalmi Szemle [Literary Review], a paper published in Bratislava in Hungarian, László DOBOS. The cars of the Hungarian Radio and the Slovakian television are queued at the two sides of the procession. Wherever you look, you see brisk film reporters and press correspondents.

The celebrating crowd is streaming through the garden gate of the beautifully restored Madách Manor House in Strehová into the old English park and further on, among the wattle and oak trees in the garden and along the road freshly topped with gravel, to the cenotaph whose stone slabs the Madách ancestors and the poet rest below. The picture is clear and light: the hill among the wattles is covered by a forest of people. Thousands of colours flare up in the frames of the green or turning-to-yellow nature: the white, red and pink colours of the flowers, the varicoloured dresses, the pioneers’ red scarves, the festive black clothes. The male genius (a work by the Bratislava-resident sculptor Alajos RIGELE) almost seems to be flying in the light autumn times on the top of the cenotaph. The wreaths will soon cover the memorial. A marvellous blue-eyed and bow-backed woman, Madách’s great-granddaughter Alice FITZEKNÉ REINHARDT who has come from Banská Bystrica steps in front of the grave wearily and weakly. Her daughter and grand-child (who is Madách’s great-great-great-grandchild) are also with her. The three late offshoots of the Madách family place a single wreath on the grave.

The workers’ choir from Zvolen performs Slovak and Hungarian folk songs: the brazen and fruity voices embrace the grave and they slowly go past and fly away from the valley of small Strehová brook.

There is a high podium in the valley facing the WREATHED cenotaph, with a huge expanded white canvas curtain behind the podium, showing the last row of the Tragedy in Slovak and Hungarian. The postulate »Man, strive on« urges the fraternization of the nations above the light green Strehová fields in this very moment. Further on, Madách’s message of »have faith; and trust« promises a success in this strife. The Chairwoman of the Slovakian Madách Committee Mária LICSKOVA, the representative of the Slovak National Council Eng. Jozef PRINTZ and university professor in Bratislava and the President of the Slovak Authors‘ Society dr. Milan Pisut all welcome the brotherhood of nations.

The President of the Hungarian Authors’ Society József Darvas is, as he expressed in the beginning of his speech, »standing in front of Madách’s grave with earnest emotions« and thanks the Slovak National Council for »this splendid ceremony«.

“After the misunderstandings and hardships of long centuries, more cheerful and nicer days rise up; we no longer live merely beside each other but begin to live together.”

Ernő Mihályfi first quoted the words of the MP Madách which the latter used to address to his Slovak speaking electors. Then he explained that a proceeding was held on the Madách issue in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in the beginning of the fifties and a question was raised there: is Madách’s work suitable for strengthening the peace camp, for helping the mutual recognition and cooperation of nations striving for peace and progress? Does he belong to our wealth that the Hungarian nation can enrich the treasury of international socialist culture with? A decade has almost gone by and time has given a definite answer to this question. The World Peace Council proposed to celebrate the Madách centenary, a major anniversary affecting mankind, all over the world.

In his stately speech, the editor-in-chief of the Bratislava-published Irodalmi szemle László Dobos called this ceremony the »peak point« of our socialist development wherefrom, if one looks back, one can review all the faults of the near past. The Secretary General of CSEMADOK Rezső Szabó quoted Ádám’s word about the faith of life.

Afterwards, we walked over to the beautifully restored double-tower old Madách manor house which was blooming in light colours. On behalf of the Banská Bystrica district party committee and the district-level National Council in Banská Bystrica, it was Josef BALAS who opened the museum at the main entrance: >We oblige ourselves – he said in Slovak language, among others, – that we will care for this museum as if Imre Madách had been the son of our own nation.<

The MUSEUM was presented to the public in Hungarian and Slovak by an elderly associate in the Banská Bystrica museum Géza BALASSA.”

According to Géza Balassa’s report in a periodical focusing on monument protection, the rooms opened to the general public looked as follows: the room (called room 1, which was the big hall that the Madách family used to call the palace) exhibits the poet’s and his family’s pictures and personal documents, as well as Madách’s early works. The cards in room 2 documented the beginnings of activities in county-level public life. Room 3 visualizes 1848-49. Imre Madách’s head sculpture, a work by Ferenc Sidló, and the latest illustrations to the Tragedy were exhibited in room 4. The next room was wholly dedicated to Madách’s main work: the various publications and translations of the Tragedy were put in exhibition cases. Some duplicates of Mihály Zichy’s illustrations are likewise on show here. Room 6 vivifies the theatre premieres.

The seventh furnished room (the so-called Den of Lions, using Géza Balassa’s words) is “filled with contemporary furniture, and the walls eradiate the air of the past centuries; the visitor comes to feel that the poet who had the future of mankind so much at his heart is also here with us today”.

The weekly of Csemadok A Hét [The Week] was published on the day of the ceremony in Strehová, with a front page showing the sculpture of Ádám standing on the cenotaph. The poet Árpád Ozsvald commemorated Imre Madách. A lyric description is given in the introduction to his article: “The foliage of the centuries-old trees turns from yellowish green into greenish brown. These elderly guards of the Strehová park rarified as time went by. The small manor house has rejuvenated by the grandiose anniversary. It has been painted outside and inside, the decayed parquetry and door-posts have been replaced by new ones. Still, everything radiates the spirit of the great poet who died one hundred years ago.”.

It was the 25 October issue of A Hét that reported on the commemoration itself. In addition to describing the venue and the events, it emphasized that “The ceremony… lived up to the poet and the heritage. Thousands were gathering in the street of … Dolná Strehová to pay a tribute to the memory of Madách … they speak Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, but they all claim intellectual heritage … The spirit of human creative power and originative desire moved in the vaulted room of the manor house which became a Madách museum.” The contributor Gyula Duba interpreted József Darvas’s words (already quoted by Péter Ruffy – “finally begin to live together”) as Madách’s legacy that can demolish historical prejudice.

In its 8 November issue, A Hét published Béla Balázs’s interviews (made on 4 October) under the title Madách Museum – the monument of friendship [original title: A Madách Múzeum – a barátság emlékműve]:

“I’m filled with the zest of victory. I’m happy that my plan could become true in a bigger scope than I had originally thought about. I’m also happy that I could give my collection to the museum” – said the ex-teacher in Strehová and memory guard Zoltán Batel.

„I knew“ – declared József Darvas – “that Madách would be commemorated in Strehová, too, but I didn’t think that the ceremony would be that big. I fairly like the museum, it surpasses my expectations by far.”.

According to the 76-year-old politician Árpád Szakasits “The Madách Museum is the symbol of Czechoslovakian-Hungarian friendship … I consider the gathering the festive of brotherhood where the flower of a new spring has effloresced. I would like this flower never to fade.”

Béla Balázs also asked Madách’s great-granddaughter Alíz Fitzekné Reinhardt to say a few words: “I used to spend a lot of nice hours here in my childhood. I’m moved now that I could return to Strehová. Everything is very nice and I think an incredible work has been done here. I thank you kindly.”

The librarian in Lučenec Ferdinánd Ferencz and the teacher in Fil’akovo Dr. Lajos Lóska also had a major share in creating the museum. The former declared “The struggle was not in vain, the museum is nicer than we had thought.”. According to the latter “The opening of the museum is a milestone in our cultural life and it commits us to a lot of things”…

The Chairman of the Educational and Cultural Section of DNC in Lučenec Milan Králik talked about the future and the plans: „The empty rooms of the manor house will host a Mikszáth museum and we will open a permanent exhibition on Slovak-Hungarian literary and historical relations.”

Finally, this permanent exhibition was not realized, but later on Mikszáth mementos and placards introducing the Slovak personalities of the region were indeed placed in the Strehová manor house.

The quoted contemporary documents and even some personal mementos suggest that the festivities had some flaws and were subject to ideological ballasts. Imre Madách must have turned round in his grave after some puffed-up statements in recent politics. Later on it turned out that there were also some architectural problems because after almost two decades the manor house had to be closed, and only in the 21st century did the manor house in Dolná Strehová become and will it continually be a worthy and up-to-date Madách memorial site in terms of both content and technicalities.