„For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – this is how the 1466 Munich Codex or Hussite Bible put into Hungarian a 2,000-year-old truth of the Holy Scripture regarding our existence and identity. It is not inconsequential what we regard as values, what surrounds us in our everyday life. The true value of any treasure is conferred by the people bearing it: it can only become a treasure if we get to know it and embrace it.

This is why we will again start our trip for the 15th time on the night when the museums will stay open to impart the well-guarded treasures of our knowledge and national identity.

The Night of the Museums shows our true wealth: the multitude of good and beautiful, interesting and amazing things that await for us to rediscover them, things that had once been part of our lives. Across the country, from Debrecen, the central location of the Reformation anniversary to Sopron, from major central institutions to local collections, 2,100 events at some 380 locations vie for our attention. The whole summer would be too short if one wanted to sample them all! But this wealth ensures that all of us can find something dear to our heart.

No treasure can survive without guardians, whose calling is to show and explain these treasures. Therefore, as we embark on our trip, we should spend a moment thinking about those who make all this possible. Think about all those who, after months of meticulous preparations will open the doors and turn on the lights so as to give new life to the exhibits, and through these help us understand the surrounding world, our common past, arts, sciences, present and future and how these bond us together. Let our thanks go to the scientists, specialists and support staff who are with us throughput the year and this night as well, working for the benefit of all museum goers.

Our thanks also go to Anikó Für, who graciously accepted to be the face of this series of events and helped promote it.

I hope that all those who came last year will be here again and bring some eager new visitors with them.

I wish you all a pleasant pastime!

Zoltán Balog
Minister of Human Capacities,
Chief sponsor of the Night of the Museums