Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!

The memory and the past of the Hungarian National Museum date back as many as  217 years. Established in 1802, it is one of the oldest institution of the country, and one of the oldest public museum in Europe.

For the Museum there have been times of flourishing, prosperity and development, but also times of decay, disaster and danger. Still, perhaps, not in the long history of our collection destruction was ever so close, ever so manifest than in the early hours of the foggy morning of October 5th, in 1919, when dozens of trucks of an occupying army entered the Museum garden seeking to remove the better parts of the collection without any international legal agreement or authorisation. There was but one man, a US Army general who stepped in, and saved our collection.

The National Museum will keep for ever in her memory the unyielding help of General Harry Hill Bandholtz in saving the Museum. This is the reason why we decided to lay this commemorative stepping stone in the renewed garden of the Museum on the centenary of the event.

As friends, allies and supporters, we strongly hope, and are indeed convinced, that the United States Army, which during World War Two, during the Cold War and ever since, stood on the grounds of strict moral principles of the Declaration of Independence, of the Constitution, of the great minds of the United States, on principles of liberty, justice and  the rule of law, will likewise keep one of its exemplary officers in its ever lasting memory. 

Thank you for your attention!
​Benedek Varga director general, Hungarian National Museum