Debrecen4U August 3, 2026

New Director-General Confirms Cancellation of Natural History Museum’s Relocation to Debrecen

Following Zsolt Berner’s dismissal last week, Gergely Babocsay has been appointed Acting Director-General of the Hungarian Natural History Museum by Gábor Zsigmond, President of the Hungarian National Museum Public Collections Centre, with approval by Zoltán Tarr, Minister for Social Relations and Culture, and made.

As previously reported, the long-standing plan was to construct two buildings as a new home for the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Debrecen. The exhibition building was to be located in the Great Forest, while the collections centre was planned for the University Innovation Industrial Park. Architectural design competitions have already been completed for both buildings.

It now appears, however, that the project will not go ahead. Before his appointment, Gergely Babocsay, formerly Chief Curator of the Mátra Museum, wrote in an article published by Válasz Online in early June: “The uncertainty surrounding the museum’s relocation to Debrecen, which lasted for more than seven years, has now come to an end. However, the traumas and losses associated with this period will continue to be felt for a long time, and this chapter will almost certainly not be remembered as a golden age in the museum’s history.”

The new Acting Director-General set out a number of arguments against the relocation, maintaining that the museum should remain in Budapest. In his view, if the museum were to move to a new site within the capital, it would be worth considering whether the building complex originally designed for Debrecen could instead be constructed in Budapest. However, he argues that the plans should first be subjected to broad professional consultation and revised where necessary. “Relocating within Budapest would also entail risks for the collections, but significantly fewer than moving them more than 200 kilometres to Debrecen,” he added.

It remains unclear how the Debrecen project plans could be transferred to the state, a ministry, or even the museum itself, as the architectural competitions were organised not by a state body but by Debreceni Infrastruktúra Fejlesztő Kft., a company owned by the Municipality of Debrecen.

As reported back in June, the plans to relocate the Hungarian Museum of Transport to Debrecen were also adandoned following the change of government., as confirmed by Minister for Transport and Investment Dávid Vitézy.

Source: dehir.hu | Photo credit: Bjarke Ingels Group & Vikár és Lukács Építész Stúdió