MaNDAHungarian National Digital Archive

The 230th Article of the Act II of 1939 provided for the labour service of public interest, which ordered the obligation to male residents of Hungarian citizenship who were unfit for military service and had reached the age of twenty-four. The training provided within the military framework had to be completed in labour camps for persons specified by law, and the duration of service was set at three months a year. The first labour battalions began their work in July 1939, so by the end of the summer of 1940 it became clear that the incompetence was not interpreted by the legislature in terms of physical health, but by origin and political reliability. The decree is thus difficult to interpret other than the supplement to Jewish laws.

Ignác Alpár was one of the outstanding architects of historicism at the turn of the century. He worked in almost every architectural genre, but without doubt, one of the highlights of his career was the Historical Main Group of the Millennium Exhibition, the building complex known as the Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park. It is no coincidence that he is also regarded as a "bank building specialist", as his career took off by designing buildings such as the Tőzsdepalota (Stock Exchange Palace) on Szabadság Square. In our latest selection, we look back at the stories of some of his famous buildings.

The term ‘verso’ has Latin origin (folio verso) and is used to describe the back of a visiting card. The heyday of the visiting card in photography was between 1852 and 1919, and these cards were usually portraits, the verso of which was discovered very early by photographers as an advertising medium. On the back of the cards, the photographers not only gave the address of their studios but also their awards, accompanied by artistic graphics. In our current selection, these ornate versos, and with them the photographers' careers come to life.

Superstitions are present in our everyday lives imperceptibly, for example, many people knock something on wood to make sure it does not happen, even if they do not necessarily believe in it. However, our ancestors still attached great importance to superstitions and their associated rituals, which they used for gaining some control over sometimes rather unpredictable life events. 

This week we look at the winter repertoire of folk food culture. The cold season, festive and religious customs limited the food choices and, in this context, food as magical objects, the ritual of eating and the beliefs associated with it were of particular importance. It also reveals how the traditional Christmas dishes of today (fish soup, stuffed cabbage, poppy-seed and walnut roll cake “bejgli”) were brought to the table of our ancestors.