From campgrounds to open-air cinemas, the museum’s new temporary exhibition evokes the spirit of life on Lake Balaton, featuring objects and memorabilia loaned or donated by visitors.

Sándor Décsey, the museum director, recalled that a few months ago the museum announced it would be accepting items related to the pre-regime change period (before 1989) and Lake Balaton, and they received a large number of donations.

The new exhibition includes movie projectors and entertainment equipment, inflatable kayaks and camping gear, beach items, as well as everyday objects and memorabilia.

As the exhibition’s main sponsor, Hotel Helikon has also loaned the museum a former room interior and a restaurant table. Alongside armchairs designed specifically for the hotel and Zsolnay tableware, the setting — complete with a minibar and small television — evokes the atmosphere of the era.

The director added that visitors can also get a sense of how people traveled to Lake Balaton by train, bus, or car, and it is worth noting that the so-called “Hungarian Sea” served as a prominent meeting place for East and West German tourists.

Décsey explained that the exhibition offers nostalgia for older visitors and a sense of wonder for younger ones, showing, for example, that it was possible to book accommodations without the internet and to communicate with loved ones back home via landline or postcard.

The museum in Keszthely will also join the Night of Museums event on June 20 with retro-themed programs, including an exhibition of vintage vehicles, subjective guided tours led by a winemaker and a retired hotel manager, and a filmstrip screening for children.

The exhibition will be open until the end of April 2027.

More:
Retro Balaton
8360 Keszthely,  Múzeum u. 2

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