The Main Building of the University of Debrecen was ceremoniously opened in 1932. The building was considered to be one of the most modern facilities in Hungary both in terms of the architectural and technological conditions as well as implementation of the time. DEENK is commemorating this historical period to enable people involved in the life of the university to familiarize themselves with the details of the creation of the building.
At the opening of the exhibition, Elek Bartha, vice rector for education at the University of Debrecen, emphasized that the impressive building was created in a difficult historical period of the country. The construction took place in the post-Trianon period, when, deprived of a significant part of the country's former resources and in spite of an economic situation that had bled the country dry, the leaders of the time saw it as important to create a building worthy of the spirit of university education and science.
- The Main Building was opened ninety-one years ago, and in 2023 we can already boast of the ninetieth year. The Main Building is not just one of the buildings of the University of Debrecen standing today, but is of emblematic importance for the institution, the city, the region, and the entire domestic academic life. It is an architectural heritage which is filled with content by function. Anyone who enters the building is imbued with a sense of sacredness, the sacredness of the temple of science, which does not primarily arise from the physical reality, architectural, and aesthetic values of the building, but instead conveys the message of the spirituality of the students, teachers, and researchers working here. The spirit of the place is the strong radiation that is built from the knowledge of successive generations, is nourished and has a deep impression on the students within the walls of the building.
Leonárd Petró, DEENK's Deputy General Director of Public Relations, said: the exhibition also shows that the university and national library plays a uniquely prominent role in the history of the Main Building.
- In the 1930s, it wasn't self-evident that a library would operate in a room created specifically for this purpose. In Debrecen, however, it was able to start activities in the most modern space and the most modern building. The complete documentation of the construction has been preserved; as a result, the exhibition is worthy of the heritage that the Main Building carries in both its form and content. At the exhibition, through augmented reality, historical past and modern present become one, with the exhibition forming a bridge in time, added the Deputy Director General.
The close to fifty photographs on display come to life with the help of the downloadable mobile phone application called Artivive, and with a QR code created especially for the exhibition, visitors can access the entire digital gallery of DEENK, where they can find more than two hundred additional photos of the construction and the history of the Main Building are available.
Press center - BZ
