The main cultural assets of Hungary

Hungary has been a member of ICCROM since 1993 notwithstanding with a short break between 2013 and 2017. The Government of Hungary considers the country's membership to be a priority in terms of cultural heritage protection interests.

Hungary's rich cultural heritage assets and traditions are deeply interwoven into the identity of the nation; it has a diverse, uniquely built and intangible heritage due to its more than one-thousand-year-old history and its surpassingly talented people. The country has a philosophical approach to heritage and its refined aesthetic sense. Although Hungary is a relatively small country, its cultural assets are well represented on UNESCO's World Heritage List (8 sites) and List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (6 elements).

The legal framework on cultural heritage conservation

The protection and management of the tangible cultural heritage is generally regulated by the “Act on the protection of Cultural Heritage”. Hungary always reacts to changes and challenges with innovative solutions, it was in this spirit that the “Act on World Heritage” was drafted. It was among the first acts adopted dealing with world heritage on a global level, together with the “Act on High-rise Buildings” and the “Act on the Protection of Townscapes”, which are unique within the European Union, addressing the contemporary issues of townscape protection based on broad social involvement, taking into consideration the approach of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape. The legal framework is completed with different government and ministerial decrees as well.

The cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List

Hungary has 8 sites (7 in the cultural and one in the natural category) inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List: Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue (1987); Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings (1987); Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (1995); Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Surroundings (1996); Hortobágy National Park – the Puszta (1999); Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae) (2000), Fertő/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (2001); and Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape (2002).

Hungary is a Member State of ICCROM since 07/06/1993

Mandates in ICCROM Council since 1958:

ICCROM Staff since 1959: 1

Governmental Cultural Institutions

• Miniszterelnökség - Építészeti és Építésügyi Helyettes Államtitkárság / Prime Minister's Office - Deputy State Secretariat for Architecture and Construction
  
• Emberi-Erőforrások-Minisztériuma / Ministry of Human Capacities
  

Museums and Cultural Heritage Institutions

• UNESCO Magyar Nemzeti Bizottsága / Hungarian National Commission for UNESCO
  
• Lechner Tudásközpon t / Lechner Knowledge Centre
  
• Magyar Építészeti Múzeum és Műemlékvédelmi Dokumentációs Központ / Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Centre
  
• Hagyományok Háza / Hungarian Heritage House
  
• Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum / Hungarian National Museum
  
• Museum of Fine Arts
  
• Hungarian National Gallery
  
• Museum of Applied Arts
  
• Szentendrei Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum / Open Air Museum of Szentendre
  
• Hungarian Natural History Museum
  
• Museum of Ethnography
  
• Hungarian Open Air Museum (Skanzen)
  
• Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art
  
• Hungarian Museum of Science, Technology and Transport
  
• Hungarian Museum of Trade and Tourism
  
• Petőfi Literary Museum
  
• Pannonhalmi Főapátság / Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma
  
• Pécs (Sopianae) ókeresztény temetője / Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae)
  
• Federation of Hungarian Folklore Festivals – CIOFF® Hungary
  
• Dance House Guild
  
• Martin György Folk Dance Association
  
• Muharay Elemér Folk Art Association
  

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