Hidden treasures in Budapest – 122-year-old pharmaceutical furniture saved

Pharmacy Cabinet Gógyszertári Berendezés Furniture Bútor

122-year-old cabinet Source: Műtárgyfelügyeleti Hatóság (Authority for Works of Art) [mutargy-static.kormany.hu/export-5-205.html?fbclid=IwAR0ryAJEnTiSs3aIZ3y2w3TZN47jAp_chHvsUSnLj5DX-h9Ne1WSmZkmt3A]

When you walk on the streets of Budapest, it is actually worth taking a better look at your surroundings. You may never know what you can find. It might just be an ordinary convenience store or some other type of small shop, but in Budapest, you can never know what any ordinary place could hide.

Although even the façades in Budapest are mesmerising and could take you hours just to fully appreciate every detail of a single one, let alone all of them, there are quite a lot of things to look out for in such a city bustling with artistic expression, historical objects and places. In one of our previous articles, we have explored the beautiful floors of Budapest’s buildings. Someone took the time and made beautiful details where only a few people look.

In this case, it was time that played a trick with this series of cabinets. According to 24, the story of the cabinet started in 1899 and even a bit before. There was a pharmacy founded by Ignác Tóth in 1795 called Saint István (Stephen) around today’s Margit körút. This very pharmacy moved in 1816 to a different place and then, in 1843, it moved back to Margit körút, and over the years, it changed its location a few times. The only thing that did not change was the name.

The cabinets in question were made and installed in the pharmacy in 1899. For more than three decades, it was untouched, but the then-owner, Pál Kerpel, sold it in 1932.

The person who purchased it was Blum Gyula, who decided to move the beautiful piece of furniture to the Pest side of the city.

The pharmacy that was reopened on István Street was first named Flóra, but years later, it was renamed King István (Stephen) to honour the Hungarian historical figure, but also because of the name of the street.

This was in 1940, and although regimes changed and landlords went, the furniture made of walnut stood the test of time and waited relentlessly.

Budapest Diszkont Store Time Travel — Source: Google Streetview

As 24 writes, the interior of the store did not change much, and up until 2014, it remained a pharmacy utilising the beautiful cabinets as many Hungarian pharmacies do. But then the pharmacy closed, and a tobacco shop opened in its place. For a couple of years, it was there, lying under the boxes of cigarettes until the tobacco shop closed down and an Asian store selling many things was opened in its place.

Unfortunately, the new store did not embrace the beautiful craftsmanship of the walnut cabinets which are about 122 years old. They often used other, cheaper materials to cover it up to utilise any space in the store.

One of the readers of 24 noted the beautiful cabinets, and the news outlet went there to check up on it themselves. When they arrived, there was a note on the door that said that due to the moving of the cabinets, the store will be closed between March 20^th and March 31^st.

Fortunately for this piece of furniture, it is being moved to the Hungarian Open Air Museum in Szentendre.

It will probably be restored where necessary and will be part of an upcoming exhibition in the Hungarian Open Air Museum in 2022. Hopefully, by that time, the coronavirus pandemic will not be as great a threat and tourism can spring back a little. If possible, we recommend you visit the museum, and if you are there, be sure to look for the black walnut cabinets. If you are impatient and have not already clicked on the original source, you can see a few more images in 24’s article.