Debrecen’s exhibition venues are preparing for the Night of Museums together this year, coordinating their programmes. A press conference was held at Debrecen Reformed College on June 3, 2025, with representatives from the participating institutions.

Looking back on the events of the previous week, Deputy Mayor István Puskás said that the Night of Literature, the MODEM garden cinema, and the wine festival held on Déri Square show that Debrecen has switched to summer mode, and on Midsummer’s Eve, on 21 June, cultural institutions will open their doors to visitors.

“I am sure that every Debrecen resident looking for cultural adventures will be able to put together a personal programme booklet with which to spend the evening. I invite everyone to go on an adventure with open eyes, an open and receptive mind and to visit the programmes with a heart, because the Night of Museums is a great opportunity to discover new things,” he explained.

He added that the programme series is a traditionally strong community celebration, during which we can bring to life our public collections, which play a vital role in the life of our city by preserving and presenting local heritage. As he said, ”The brigade museum will also be moving out during the evening, and the Jewish cultural quarter will also have colourful programmes. He highlighted that as part of the event series, the Old Town Hall will also welcome its visitors, where Mayor László Papp will guide those interested within the historic building’s walls.

MODEM’s marketing and sales group leader, Petra Dankó, stated that the Night of Museums is a particularly important event for them this year, as the institution was chosen as the Museum of the Year in 2025. Speaking about the programmes, she highlighted, among other things, the exhibition titled “What Year Are You?” guided by actress Anita Ábel and the exhibition titled “Szipál 101: Light – Life – Heritage” with sign language interpretation, guided by actress Klaudia Liptai, and the guided tour at the exhibition titled “Untold Stories” by comedian Daniel Said in English-language.

Deputy scientific director of the Déri Museum, Lajos Lakner, highlighted the World War I and World War II weapons and costumes display by the traditionalist secondary school students of the Kratochvil Károly Honvéd Secondary School and Dormitory, as well as the exhibition titled “Hungarians Prisoners in the Great War”, consisting of paintings by the former prisoner of war painter Ágoston Szegedi Kovács. As he said, “The exhibition will also be guided by the director of the Institute of Hungarian Inheritance, curator of the exhibition, Dr. Gábor Margittai, and research leader of the Forgotten Memory War Tribute Research Group, Sándor Csákvári.”

The museum employee reminded that this year, apart from a few shorter periods, Munkácsy’s Christ images have been on display together for 30 years. At the Night of Museums, visitors can also learn about the origin and success story of the Trilogy: Christ Before Pilate, Golgotha ​​and Ecce homo.

The Debrecen House of Literature and the Medgyessy Ferenc Memorial Exhibition will focus on Mór Jókai, where we can participate in discussions at the exhibition titled “Jókai másKÉPp”, view unknown Jókai manuscripts and photos, find out what the writer’s favourite game was, and even move in with Jókai.

President-pastor of the Debrecen Reformed Great Church Parish, István Oláh, noted that the church is not fundamentally a museum, as it is the home of a congregation; however, it is still an important player in the Night of Museums. Among the programmes, he highlighted that visitors can see the prayer room where, in 1567, the council led by Péter Méliusz Juhász, the leading bishop of the church at the time, declared to join the Calvinist branch of the Reformation. In connection with this, on 21 June, we can also print the document from 1567 declaring the birth of the Hungarian Reformed Church in the “onsite printing house” of Alföldi Nyomda Zrt.

During the evening, we can take part in a literary stroll led by Kossuth Award-winning actor and National Actor Sándor Csikos, but we can also listen to the personal thoughts of the director of the Vojtina Puppet Theatre, “from next door,” Anikó Asbóth. Additionally, we can enjoy the nightly film music concert by Gergő Csorba, the organist of the Reformed Great Church. At 10:00 p.m., the bells of the Great Church will also chime under the title “Harangáték by Night”.

The tourism representative of the Debrecen Reformed Church, Dániel Sárosi, said that the “Csonkatemplom” (Small Reformed Church) is the oldest church in the city; despite this, they joined the Night of Museums programme series a year ago. As stated, this year they attempted to implement exciting programmes for as many generations as possible, and they will also present several traditional programmes with which they aim to draw attention to the church’s 300th anniversary. Among the programmes, in addition to the tower tour, a cultural history walk awaits those who attend.

Erzsébet Perla, a teacher at the Dóczy Grammar School of the Debrecen Reformed College, spoke about the programmes planned at the Szabó Magda Memorial House. A literary performance is also scheduled to take place at the venue in connection with the “200th anniversary of Jókai”. The Dóczy “Glorifying” Orchestra will be on stage, and visitors can also participate in a musical and literary evening featuring artists from the Csokonai National Theatre.

The artistic director of the institution, Terka Láposi, gave information about the programmes of the Vojtina Puppet Theatre. She said that the pieces from the puppet theatre’s collection will play a prominent role at the event. For one night, visitors can meet 200 iconic figures from the puppet theatre’s puppet collection in the Kálvin Square Theatre Hall, where the puppets will come to life for a short story excerpt. In addition, during the evening, the artefacts will “speak,” and it will also be shown how to store a century-old puppet. 

The specialist director of the Debrecen Reformed College Museum, Dávid Csorba, revealed that on the shortest night of the year, in addition to several programmes, we can follow in the footsteps of “Misi Nyilas” on a guided tour, we can also look into old books with stories, and we can also see Jókai documents in the archives.

This year, the Night of Museums will take place on June 21, from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. at several locations, with the participation of numerous institutions.

The Debrecen Jewish Community event will take place from 10:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at the Pásti Street Synagogue.

Participating institutions:

Parish of the Reformed Great Church of Debrecen

Debrecen Reformed College

Debrecen Jewish Community

Debrecen-Kistemplom-Ispotályi Reformed Church Community (Csonkatemplom)

Déri Museum, Debrecen Literature House, Medgyessy Ferenc Memorial Museum

MH István Bocskai 11th Armoured Hajdú Brigade

MODEM

Magda Szabó Memorial House

Vojtina Puppet Theatre

The wristband, which entitles you to view all exhibitions participating in the collaboration, can be purchased online or at the participating locations.

Other locations:

Thanks to the offer of MCC, the Bocskai Brigade will organise an exhibition in the corner building of Arany Bika (corner of Bajcsy-Piac Street). The Garrisoni Band will also perform here (in front of Subway).

Detailed programmes can be found on the exhibition venue pages and on Múzeumok Éjszakája Debrecen 2025 website.

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu