Institution(s) in charge

There is no single Hungarian institution ‘in charge of gardens’. There are governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in the topic.

• Ministry of Construction and Transport, Deputy State Secretariat for Monument and Cultural Heritage Protection (cultural heritage policy and legislation, monument protection, HEREIN coordination, European Heritage Days coordination) – Government body operating since May 2022.
• County Government Office(s) with Department(s) of Architecture and Heritage Protection (executive authority/ies) – Territorial government administrative bodies operating since 2011.
• NÖF National Heritage Protection and Development Non-profit Ltd. (executive operator of more than 50 state owned heritage sites of national importance including remarkable historic gardens; responsible for their conservation and development) – Founder of the Ltd.: the Hungarian State; operating since 2011.
• NÖRI – National Heritage Institute (assets manager and operator of locations of symbolic significance from the aspect of the nation’s past and historical memory, such as memorial sites of national importance) – Governmental institution since 2013.
• MÉM – MDK : Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Centre (historic preservation, topography, research centre and museum) – Public body founded by the Hungarian State, operating since 2017.

 Other actors

In chronological order of their establishment:

• ICOMOS – Hungarian National Committee, Sub-committee for Historic Gardens and Garden Art Ensembles (since the 1970ies, 1980ies)
• MTSZ – Hungarian Association of Landscape Architects (since 1991)
• MABOSZ – Hungarian Association of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens (since 1992)
• OIA – Ormos Imre Foundation – ‘Pro Landscape Architecture’ (since 1996)
• MATE - TTDI – Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences – Institute of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Garden Art ( since 2021, with its predecessor institutions since 1894)
• MKA – Hungarian Garden Heritage Foundation (since 2021)

 Relevant legislation

National legislation:

• Act C of 2023 on the Hungarian Architecture
• Act XXXII of 2024 on the Sustainable development of certain elements of cultural heritage
• Government Decree No. 68/2018 (IV. 9.) on Rules for the Protection of Cultural Heritage
• Act LIII of 1996 on the Protection of Nature
• Decree No. 19/2011. (III. 16.) on the List of Arboreta

Other related government decrees, ministerial decrees and orders.

Guidelines and recommendations:

International document: The Florence Charter on Historic Gardens (1982).

No official guidelines or recommendations from governmental institutions related to specific garden heritage issues.

Other professional guidelines, recommendations: ICOMOS Hungarian National Committee, Sub-committee for historic gardens and garden art ensembles provides some recommendations via publications.

 Protection measures

Protection measures exist for both heritage and nature conservation, on national and local levels.

• Legal protection of historic gardens in its own right as ‘specific monument’ – only few gardens, it lacks many of the most important sites from a heritage point of view.

• Legal protection – based on former Act LXIV of 2001 on the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the rules on the protection of monuments was incorporated into Act C of 2023 on the Hungarian Architecture: historic gardens are specific objects of monument protection.
• Historic gardens of outstanding importance are registered and protected within this category (general protection, historic monument status). Other historic gardens are registered and protected as part of a built heritage asset (predominantly gardens of historic buildings). Both type of protection is related to built heritage, therefore these historic gardens or parks are under cultural heritage protection.
• Legal protection as nature conservation area.
• Some of the historical gardens are also protected as arboreta.

 Existing inventories

• Károly Örsi’s historic garden lists, published in the journal ‘Műemlékvédelem’ [Protection of historic monuments] in 1971 and 1990.
• Official register of protected monuments: the Ministry of Construction and Transport, Deputy State Secretariat for Monument Protection is responsible for the registry of built heritage items. This is not an inclusive inventory in terms of all gardens of historical values, but the most accurate according to legal status. Available only to authorities and research organisations.
• Historicgarden.net – Central European historic garden database, under the supervision of MATE-TTDI.
• County garden register – Recent and ongoing initiative for revising garden inventories, based on topographic approach. Executed since 2017. Inclusive inventory in terms of patrimonial gardens, but currently concerns only two specific counties (of the 19), i.e. Komárom-Esztergom and Heves counties. Results are not yet official and publicly accessible.

 Online information

Diverse information on Hungarian garden heritage is available online, but typically not on official governmental sites. Not all online data are officially or scientifically approved, nor structured or valid. Most of the information is published in Hungarian.

 Specialised training

Specialised garden heritage courses:

• education of landscape architecture and garden design (responsible institution: Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences – Institute of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Garden Art)
• training of wood inspector and tree care specialists (responsible institution: Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences)
• management of historic gardens postgraduate programme (responsible institution: Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences)
• training of monument protection specialists (responsible institution: Budapest University of Technology and Economics – Department of History of Architecture and Monument Preservation)

 Awareness-raising actions

Hungary participates in the yearly program of ‘Rendez-vous aux jardins’ since 2018 when the first Hungarian edition was organised under the title ‘Történeti kertek, kastélyparkok napja’ (in English: Day of historical gardens and castle parks). Since 2022, the event has been organised under the Hungarian equivalent name ‘Légy ott a kertben! ’.

Recurring conferences and other events, such as:

• the yearly ‘Mihály Mőcsényi Garden Art and Garden History Workshop’ organized in Eszterháza
• the yearly event of ‘European Horticulture and Art of Garden Show’ organized in Fehérvárcsurgó
• the ‘Evergreen Clubs’ of ICOMOS held in Budapest

Other specific events, congresses, workshops related to gardens have been numerous in the recent years, but they are not yet systematically compiled.

 Terminology tools

No complete terminology/glossary tool specialized in garden heritage field.

In the framework of the ‘HEREIN Gardens’ Hungary collaborates in developing the glossary related to garden heritage (Multilingual gardens thesaurus). The garden terminology is available in Hungarian.

 Documentation

• Journal ‘Műemlékvédelem’ [Protection of historic monuments]
• 4D Journal of Landscape Architecture and Garden Art
• Various publications of garden historians