Museum of Chemistry of the Hungarian Museum of Technology and Transport (MMKM)

Since 1963 the Museum of Chemistry has been in the fourteenth-century Thury Castle in the former coal-mining town of Várpalota, 80 km west of Budapest. The museum examines the history of chemistry, beginning with a reconstruction of an alchemist’s workshop and other explanations of the earliest understanding of chemical technologies. It tells the story of Hungarian chemistry and the role of measurement and computer science, with a historical collection of the regional coal industry. It is a museum of traditional form that shows a large number of significant objects in clearly presented cases with interpretive texts. They include high-quality models of industrial installations, scientific weighing scales, laboratory vessels, early computers and tools such as the spectrometer and the gas chromatograph. Films and explanatory panels add to the information available. The collection contains over 9,000 objects and 44,000 documents as well as a library. It organises events including seminars and educations workshops.