Visible: National Digital Archive

Digitization

The National Digital Archive opens to the public with picture postcards of Keszthely

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On March 23^th an exhibition of old picture postcards connected to Lake Balaton and its vicinity was opened at the Balaton Museum in Keszthely. Parallel with the opening of the show the first section of the database of the National Digital Archive is on-line.

The postcard and photo collection of the Keszthely Museum consist of more than 40 thousand pictures, of which 1600 have already been digitized. The database is bilingual, researchers can use it both in Hungarian and English. „The digitization of the postcards will continue” - added museum director Bálint Havasi, and an internet voting will decide whether the photos connected to the southern or northern part of the lake should be uploaded first.

According to general director of the National Digital Archive Lajos Lovas, most of the national collection will soon be accessible in the Hungarian Archive (similar to the policy of the EU Digital Library). In the process of digitization more than 200 people took part through the national communal work system and the number will probably get even bigger.

The postcard exhibition in Keszthely gives a selection of private collector István Sárosi's rich collection (more than 40 thousand pieces). The postcards on display present the characteristics of the every day life in the Balaton region. The oldest one is more than 100 years old, it was published in 1898.

Local historian Imre Baráth told at the opening ceremony that picture postcards are strongly connected to Austria-Hungary, since the first postcard was published in this monarchy, and soon they became very popular. A year later in France, postcards were published with pictures printed on them.

Click here for the archive