Mission statement
The Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society’s mission is to preserve Hungarian culture and the history of Hungarians in Northeast Ohio, so that present and future generations can draw upon its collection for education, inspiration and enrichment. To carry out its mission, the Society sponsors educational and research activities, and operates a museum and library as a repository and exhibition center for Hungarian historical, literary and artistic items.
News about the Museum: hours we are open and future programming!
Come visit us!
The Museum is open to visitors on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 11-3. If you would like to visit us on another day when we are not open, you can make an appointment by either calling the Museum telephone number, 216-523-3900 and leaving a message, or you can write a message to our email address, museum@clevelandhungarianmuseum.org, and we will reply and arrange for your visit. Please give us at least a 4 day notice! Winters can be harsh in Northeast, Ohio, and we want to make sure our Volunteers do not travel in difficult weather. In the event we are forced to remain closed due to the weather, please call the Museum's telephone number after 11 o'clock to verify whether someone answers the phone and will be there to welcome you.
The Museum will be closed on Good Friday, April 7th.
The upcoming programs in our 2023 Saturday Spring lecture series are as follows:
April 15, Marcin Zgiep, "Democratic Revolutions in Authoritarian States: Comparative Analysis of 1956 Hungarian Revolution and 1980 Polish Solidarity movement".
May 13, Hungarian language program: "Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sándor Petőfi, Hungary's National Poet."
Read more...Remembering a wonderful member of our Museum: Steve Szappanos
Steve Emeric (István Imre) Szappanos was an integral part of our Museum! He passed away at age 93 on December 12, 2022. To understand how much we all will miss him, we have provided an extensive list of all his contributions to our Museum. To say that he cared for this cultural institution would be an understatement! He invested an incredible amount of time, talent and energy to help us get to the level of excellence that we enjoy today. Thank you so much "Pista Bá" for your years of service!!
It seems almost an impossibility to accomplish all the tasks that Steve undertook over 22 years on behalf of our Museum! He shared with me a list of all the projects he completed, and we are all in awe-what one man's energy can accomplish is truly amazing! We share his contributions to the Museum below:
Read more...3rd program in Lecture Series examines Hungarian and Polish democratic revolutions.
Please join us at the Cleveland Hungarian Museum on Saturday, April 15th, for the 3rd program in our 2023 Spring Lecture Series!
“Democratic revolutions in Authoritarian States: Analysis of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the 1980 Polish Solidarity Movement”,
Presented by Marcin Zgiep.
Modern democracy is a Western (American, British or French) ideal which is related to the three revolutions which paved the way to the establishment of democratic systems. This ideal is not limited to Western democracies. There are many different variants of democracy in the world. In this talk, Marcin Zgiep will look into the recent history of two nations that fought to undermine autocratic governments and eventually brought about democratic systems. The 1956 Revolution in Hungary and the 1980 Solidarity Movement in Poland are examples of how the universal ideal of "government of the people, by the people, for the people” can be instituted, espoused, and practiced. Regardless of any differences in circumstances and actions taken, Polish and Hungarian revolutionaries show us how regimes based on physical and symbolic violence can be changed “from within” in a profound, radical and truly democratic manner.
Marcin Zgiep received his MA in Political Science from the University of Warsaw, Poland and is currently working on his PhD dissertation; he is presently on a sabbatical in Cleveland. In 2014 he was a Visiting Scholar at the Indiana University in Bloomington.
Read more...We have launched our Online Collections Catalog
and we are excited to share them with the world!
~ WELCOME to our ONLINE COLLECTIONS DATABASE ~
You can see the many wonderful items that have been entrusted into our care ** no matter where you are **
Click here to visit the Museum’s exciting new resource! There’s a lot more to come, so check back often!!
In February, 2020, the Museum received a grant from the Ohio History Connection, which allowed us to purchase software that will enhance our ability to catalog our collection, and incorporate donor and support information into one database. As a recipient organization, we are please to announce that this project is made possible in part by the Ohio History Fund, a grant program of the Ohio History Connection. The Ohio History Fund is made possible by voluntary donations of state income tax refunds, sales of Ohio History “mastodon” license plates, and other donations.