Jail Life Close Up

Sentence serving

It’s not waxworks, it’s not pretentious. The Prison Museum in Sátoraljaújhely reflects reality. The exhibition presenting the more than 100-year-old history of sentence serving can be found within the walls of the country’s most austere jail.

Cikk küldése

e-mail:

It is undoubtedly a unique experience for a visitor to enter the gates of a still functioning jail. This is the real thing. Here one can find non other than the place, the means and the atmosphere of the punishment of today.

Museum Guard Or Jailor?

To begin with, the hundred-year-old robust building radiates some stateliness. A small door can be found by the big main entrance used by both the staff and the prisoners, which leads into the Jail Museum. When entering, the visitor is greeted by the ceramic image of St. Adrian. It is a bit absurd that the protector of jailors was made by prisoners. But even if their gratitude is not rubbed into the picture, their talent is clearly visible. In the creating of the museum, the director of the jail and the wards took part both mentally and physically. The work of preserving of the museum is done by all: the smaller repairs are the prisoners’ duty, the guided tours are lead by the prison guards.

Torturing?

The exhibition space used to be part of the prison so it needed some modification – this is how the old doorpost of the town hall prison got installed into the exhibition. The visitors go between these doorposts and enter the exhibition, where they can get acquainted with the history of imprisonment. Going along with the texts and pictures, objects and instruments the visitors can perceive the development of society – how the era of torturing and abusing gives way to other means of handling prisoners, how imprisonment and its environment get more and more important (thanks to the shocking pictures and the well arranged interiors, it is clear to everyone that there was a time – not too long ago – when the torturing of prisoners was an every-day practice).

Or Imprisonment?

Torturing has been stopped in our prisons, but life in the cells is far from comfortable. A real-life cell is prepared for the visitors so they can imagine what life can be on a few square metres. In the showcases several items can be seen: cell phone hidden in a book, weapons made by prisoners. Those paintings and ceramics are also displayed, which show real artistic talent.

Prison work: Shoes and Museum Digitization

The exhibition gives a comprehensive representation of what kind of objects the prisoners make for our every day life. It is appalling how many products come from within the prison walls, from paper handkerchiefs to fashion shoes made by hand.
A digital museum also can be found in the building. The special database contains descriptions of objects, collection of statutes, documents, publications, photographs and other professional material. The database was created and completed by prisoners.
Of course all the mysteries of prison life can’t be revealed to the public still, all that can be seen in the pictures and read in the texts is enough to change the romantic or terrifying image that is created of our prisons by the media of today.