Rethink Heritage

In Hungary the institutional structure responsible for the protection of cultural heritage has been reorganised multiple times since 2010. The essential law however remained Law LXIV from 2001 however with a lot of modifications, the latest ones from January 2023. The latest changes assigned the protection and management of both tangible and intangible heritage objects to the newly established Ministry of Construction and Transportation from the Prime Minister's Office, together with nearly all architecture-related tasks. Only the Documentation and Information Centre of Building Affairs remained at the Lechner Knowledge Center, the back office of the Prime Minister's Office.

At the Ministry of Construction and Transportation heritage related issues are organised under the supervision of the Architectural Secretariat's two separate subsecretariats: built heritage assets, world heritage and archeological sites are handled within the Subsecretariat Responsible for Cultural Heritage Management, while artifacts and art treasures belong to the Inspectorial Subsecretariat of Artifacts. Within the subsecretariat's system the World Heritage Department is responsible for the coordination and inspection of the 8 World Heritage Areas of Hungary officially recognised by UNESCO. Similarly to World Heritage locations, responsibility concerning archeology also lies with an independent department, the Major Department of Archeology.

Protection of monuments can be of two levels in the responsibility of the ministry on a state level: protected monuments and outstanding protected monuments. Building and modification permissions in case of these protected monuments can be only accessed with the professional support of a central architectural-technical council to which the Hungarian Arts Academy also delegates a member. This centralised structure has the support from local governments too, which also play a role in protection at local level as they have the authority to issue local decrees for the protection of historic monuments within their territory. 

Law LXIV from 2001 also enumerates the list of memorial places of two kinds: historical and national memorial places, the former with 52, the latter with 20 locations. There is also an outstanding national memorial place: the area of the Hungarian Parliament in the centre of the capital, Budapest. Any decisions in connection with historical and national memorial places can be only made in accordance with two committees: the National Memorial Place and Piety Committee (10 members) organised under the National Heritage Institute and the Outstanding Memorial Place Committee (5 members) responsible for taking care of the protection of the area of the Hungarian Parliament, with the presidency of the speaker of the house. Finally, the Cultural Artifacts Committee (8 members) provides official statements and recommendations in connection with nationally important art treasures and artifacts. 

The Hungarian National Museum, the Budapest History Museum, county level museums, local museums with archaeological authorization, Research Centre for Humanities, Insitute of Hungarian Research, university departments issuing master class in archaeology and specific researchers under strict and detailed conditions can carry out scientific research and preventive excavations at archaeological sites.

 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

• Act LXXVII of 2011 on World Heritage
• Act CXL of 1997 on museums, public libraries and cultural community services
• Act LXIV of 2001 on the protection of Cultural Heritage

 RATIFIED INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Act CXI of 2007 on the promulgation of the Florence Convention
• Act CX of 2012 on the promulgation of the Faro Convention
• Government Decree 149 of 2000 on the promulgation of the Valetta Convention
• Act 9 of 2014 on the promulgation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
• Act 6 of 2008 on the promulgation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
• Act 29 of 2006 on the Hague Convention
• Act 38 of 2006 on the promulgation of the UNESCO Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage
• Act 21 of 1985 on the promulgation of the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage
• Act 2 of 1979 on the promulgation of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property