Mission statement
The Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society’s mission is to preserve Hungarian culture and the history of Hungarians in Northeast Ohio, so that present and future generations can draw upon its collection for education, inspiration and enrichment. To carry out its mission, the Society sponsors educational and research activities, and operates a museum and library as a repository and exhibition center for Hungarian historical, literary and artistic items.
News you can use
Due to an emergency with our volunteer for Friday the 7th, the Museum will be closed today. Thank you for understanding.
The Museum is open to visitors on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 11-3., and those saturdays when we have a program at the Museum. If you would like to visit us on another day when we are not open, you can make an appointment by writing a message to our email address, museum@clevelandhungarianmuseum.org, and we will answer your email and arrange for your visit. Please give us at least a 4 day notice!
Did you know that the Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society was incorporated as a non-profit corporation 40 years ago? A wonderful exhibit highlights our 40 year history. The mission of the founders was to support a museum that would preserve the history of the Hungarian immigrant community in Northeast, Ohio, and would showcase Hungarian culture through its collection of fine art, folk art, books, and archival material. Since 1985, our collection has grown, our exhibits have embraced many topics, and our library has over 8000 volumes. Interactive computers enrich our exhibits, and our regular programming covers a broad range of topics. We have hosted children, high school students, college students, family reunions, political dignitaries, and the thousands of visitors who have come through our Székely gate to view our collection. With the support of our community, we have grown into a first class cultural gem located in downtown Cleveland, and we are celebrating this milestone this year. Come visit us!
We mourn the loss of a longtime supporter of the Cleveland Hungarian Museum. Dr. Jeanette Grasselli Brown passed away on July 15th. She will be missed by the members of not only this Hungarian Museum, but by the greater Cleveland Hungarian community.
Read more...SAVE THE DATE!!! Annual Children’s Program
Annual Children’s Program will be held on Saturday, December 13th. We will begin at 2 o’clock and sometime afterward Mikulás Bácsi will visit us! You can email Andrea Meszaros for details at meszarosandyneni@gmail.com, or by phone at 440-247-5144. We’d love to see children from ages 3 through 13. We will have lots of age-appropriate activities, including magyar folk dancing, crafts and fun with Hungarian playing cards!!! Reservations are a must!!!
Read more...“…not the first, but the only one among us all”
Our November program will be held via Zoom on Saturday, November 8th, at 2 o'clock. Register using the link below.
Mór Jókai was one of Hungary’s most influential and widely translated writers. His 19th-century works brought the Hungarian War of Independence to the world’s attention and helped place Hungarian literature on the global stage. Published in 37 languages, Jókai shaped modern Hungarian prose, founded the nation’s first satirical magazine, and pioneered several literary genres. His historical novels have profoundly influenced Hungary’s national memory for over 150 years.
Jókai Mór a magyar irodalom egyik legjelentősebb, legnagyobb hatású és legtöbbet idegen nyelvre fordított írója. Születésének 200 éves évfordulóján ismertetjük munkásságát és szerepét a magyar történelemben.
[Image from Wikipedia]
Ágnes Hansági is professor and director at the University of Szeged, specializing in classical Hungarian literature, particularly the works of Mór Jókai. She leads the "Jókai 200" research group. She has authored multiple scholarly works on Jókai and Hungarian literary history, including books for both adult and youth audiences. She joins us from Szeged, Hungary, online to celebrate this special event.
Note: This lecture will be held in Hungarian.
To register, use the link here.
Read more...Welcoming students from the Cleveland Hungarian School
On Monday evening, October 27th, students and their teachers from the Cleveland Hungarian School came to the Museum for an hour of learning activities. Three "retired" educators, who are also members of our Board (Eva, Marian and Andy), worked on various activities with the students. The students went from working with a floor map of Hungary, then to identifying and listening to Hungarian folk instruments, and as a third activity, reading about Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, a famous Hungarian explorer and linguist. This last activity was meaningful insofar as the Cleveland Hungarian School has a "Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Fellow" from Hungary working with the students. The older students spent time among the books and newspapers in our Library, "hunting" for answers on various topics. The evening's treat was homemade chili cooked by our Museum president, János Szigeti. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to not only learn but also to view objects in our exhibits like a Guba (shepherd's shearling cloak) or the replica of St. Stephen's Crown and even objects dating to the 1848 Hungarian Revolution. We hope the students of the Hungarian School will come back next year!! Szeretettel várunk!!
Read more...The American Nationalities Movement honored the Museum on July 17th!
The American Nationalities Movement held its Annual Captive Nations event on July 17th, and one of the two honorees was the Cleveland Hungarian Museum. The American Nationalities Movement has 49 nationalities which are represented in this unique organization, a fact that demonstrates that Cleveland is indeed an ethnically diverse city. In his letter to the members, Ralph J. Perk, Jr. wrote "Each, through their work in their respective fields, has made a great difference in their respective communities and for the greater benefit of all our nationalities." Ralph Perk was absolutely correct in his assessment of the Museum's role in enriching the Cleveland Hungarian community as well as the greater Northeast Ohio community. Janos Szigeti, our president, accepted the award on behalf of all the Museum officers, its Board, and the entire membership. Many members of our Board as well as friends of the Museum attended the dinner. (Thanks to Mike Horvath, one of our Board members, for the photograhs!)
Recent Posts
- Welcoming students from the Cleveland Hungarian School
- SAVE THE DATE!!! Annual Children’s Program
- “…not the first, but the only one among us all”
- Magyar Nóta fills the Museum on September 13!
- Saturday, September 13th, begins our 2025 Fall program series!
- The American Nationalities Movement honored the Museum on July 17th!
- What a wonderful 40th anniversary party!!
- Cleveland Hungarian Museum Celebrates 40th Anniversary
- April 12th program was well-received
- 2025 Annual Meeting
- March 8th, “Being Hungarian in America”, our Hungarian language program at the Museum
- April’s lecture will feature Hungarian Catholic Shrines in America
- Romance in Hungarian literature, Valentine’s Day Hungarian style!
- Spring Lecture: Unveiling ‘Magyarnak lenni Amerikában III.’ with Ildikó Antal-Ferencz
We have launched our Online Collections Catalog
and we are excited to share them with the world!
~ WELCOME to our ONLINE COLLECTIONS DATABASE ~
You can see the many wonderful items that have been entrusted into our care ** no matter where you are **
Click here to visit the Museum’s exciting new resource! There’s a lot more to come, so check back often!!
In February, 2020, the Museum received a grant from the Ohio History Connection, which allowed us to purchase software that will enhance our ability to catalog our collection, and incorporate donor and support information into one database. As a recipient organization, we are please to announce that this project is made possible in part by the Ohio History Fund, a grant program of the Ohio History Connection. The Ohio History Fund is made possible by voluntary donations of state income tax refunds, sales of Ohio History “mastodon” license plates, and other donations.





















