April 2016 - Issue 10 - Pécs City Guide

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PCGPécs City Guide / April 2016 / Issue 10

INSIDE:HBD Nappali, Palacsinta showdown, Kisbalkán, events and more

2 Pécs City Guide April 2016 pecscityguide.com

BONO

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your taste!

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• SUITS • SHIRTS • SHOES • ACCESSORIES • CASUAL WEAR •

Coffee, Tea, Lemonade, fruiT Turmix, Wine, beer, Crepes

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HI, I think that you have already realized that Pécs City Guide skipped an issue. (And I also do hope that you missed it a little bit.) I don’t want to make things look better as they are: we messed up our schedule in February and had to find the right rhythm again. It

wasn’t just allright to publish the magazine in the second half of each month so we decided to leave out the March issue and go for April. Sor-ry for the inconvenience but this had to be done.

Also there are again some small changes in the magazine, except one bigger: we received so many positive messages about the new series featuring expats in Pécs that we decided to have it as a full page column in the future. Actual-ly from now on.

Any feedback is really appre-ciated. Feel free to contact us at: i n f o @ p e c s c i t y g u i d e . c o m . Thanks for your attention, and see you next month.

Ervin Gűth, editor

Pécs City Guide April 2016 | Issue 10The free, insert magazine of Dunántúli Napló in English. Editor-in-chief/Publisher: László Póré Managing editor: Ervin Gűth Contributor: László Nógrádi Published by Mediaworks Regionális Kiadó Kft. Baranya Megyei Irodája Sales manager: Gyöngyi Nagy Phone: +36 72 505 060, +36 30 9971 006 E-mail: [email protected] Printed at Paletta Press Nyomda Kft. 2092 Budakeszi, Szőlőskert u. 19. ISSN 08659133

Contents04

IN BRIEFDJ course, New bike

lanes, Museum quarter

06EXPATS

Peter found a new home

08FEATURESHBD Nappali,

Milling around

12DRINK & DINE

Palacsinta, Fekete Kutya, Kisbalkán, Best of Bara-nya, Farmers’ markets

18TO DO

Ilona Keserű’s paintings, Grand Mexican War-lock, University Days,

Vineyard running

22ESSENTIALS

Organs of Pécs

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This issue’s cover photo was taken at Konzum Center (Rákóczi str). There are two

“Fruit Madonnas” on the buildings north-ern and southern corners made by Pécs-born sculptor György Fürtös (1939-2010)

in 1981. The ceramic fruits and vegeta-bles form stylized feminine forms: apples,

pears, melons, paprika can be seen.

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In B

rief

According to latest plans the city is going to spend HUF 1.5 billion on a new museum quarter at Széchenyi square. The facility will integrate the local his-tory, archeological and ethnographic museums, which are in different parts of Pécs now. The archeological mu-seum of Pécs in the northern part of Széchenyi square, where the new com-

plex will be, has been closed for several years now. The works on the new facili-ty could start already in the second half of 2016. The new building will get 1600 square metres behind the mosque and not only the museums but a new visitor centre are going to be built. The won-derful garden and the cellar will get new functions.

NEW MUSEUM QUARTER ABOVE SZÉCHENYI SQUARE

Hungarian news media and profes-sional djs went crazy about the dj course that’s available at Pécs Uni-versity. Sure this is not a typical ac-ademic field of study but inspite the flame wars the instructor of the course and decision makers are still supporting this unique opportunity. Each semester five students get the chance to enroll the class and learn about music theory, rhythm pat-terns and of course mixing.The arguing still continues on social networks and a lot of people agreed that this is a very unnecessary pro-gramme and taxpayers money is wasted. This opinion was not exclu-sive to people who never saw a dj in action, even some professionals ar-gued that there is really no need for such education.Others, for example the Hungarian Disc Jockey Association believes that there is no problem with uni-versity courses, though already the association’s work itself is a highly disputed and controversial topic be-tween industry professionals.

UNIVERSITY BACKING DEBATED DJ COURSE

Several positive gestures have been made towards bikers in Pécs but hope-fully more infrustructural developments are coming soon. Local goverment de-cided to apply to two tenders funded by the European Union. One of them will make it possible to have a new bike lane connecting Eastern Pécs area with Zsol-nay Cultural Quarter and downtown.

According to city officials this move would ease the everyday traffic prob-lems, since even more people could hop on bikes when getting to work.

The other project tries to establish a new e-bike system in the city that would connect the campus area (Ifjúság st) with downtown Pécs and Zsolnay Cul-tural Quarter.

PÉCS GOING TO BE A BIKER’S PARADISE?

MORE CULTURE

RIDING AROUND

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How does a retired American end up in Pécs?

When I was 17, I spent the summer hitchhiking around Europe and fell in love with it. So later I returned several times – to study, to speak at conferenc-es and teach classes. I traveled a lot and visited Hungary a couple of times. Fi-nally I found out that this was the place where I always wanted to live.

Do you have family roots here?My grandparents came from Hunga-

ry to New York as little children in 1917. I was lucky to know my great-grand-

Born in California, the 62 years old Peter Fritsch made a new home in Pécs. After serving several communities in his home country, the travel-loving episcopal priest found a strong sense of spirit-uality here that made him stay.

Expa

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mother a little, and my grandmother cooked all the great food – but my par-ents were raised American, no Hungari-an language. I study the language since I moved here last July, because I ap-plied for Hungarian citizenship based on the family. I take the exam in August but there is still a lot to learn.

Is there anything you still do not un-derstand or find hard to accept?

It was strange at first that people do not say hello to each other much on the street. Hungarians seem to be very re-served, but I kind of understand it know.

PETER FOUND A PIECEOF HEAVEN HERE

But I love to meet people and make new friends. So when I rented out a house near downtown I invited my neighbors for dinner. As I knew very little Hungari-an at that time, I was trying to use Goog-le Translate on my phone but it came out weird. But it was funny as well, we laughed a lot. It was a great evening and we became friends.

Later I found out that nothing like that happened there before, nobody in that street had neighbors over. They bare-ly know each other, so I was happy to step in as the crazy American who in-vites people. We also started organizing events at a friend’s place where I play music and we sing together, people bring food and we talk a lot. I find great joy in bringing people together.

Do you have tips on how to study Hungarian?

Just let it happen! I take regular les-sons but everywhere I go, it feels like people want to teach me. Péter, my teacher explained that Hungarians are not used to foreigners trying to learn Hungarian and become overenthusias-tic when they meet someone who does. They want to take part in that education – the shops, the market, everything be-comes a lesson!

What do you like the most in Pécs?That there is a strong sense of God

here. I have made a lot of friends here, but none of them goes to church, they rather have a personal relationship to God. One guy told me about a rock at Tettye, where he likes to sit and just look at the city. He says that from there one can see the Romans, the medieval age and all history, and feel a sense of sa-credness.

When I first visited that place I im-mediately felt a great energy radiating from the ground, and I knew there were countless generations of people sitting on that rock, praying. This is just one piece of an overall sense of sacredness of this city.

One other thing is that I grew up in hills and the Mecsek resembles that a lot. I traveled around Hungary as well but Pécs was the place that when I took my first walk, felt like God was saying: “This is your new home”.

So you plan to stay for good?Yes, until I go to heaven. I mean, I al-

ready think this is a piece of heaven...

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How did you come up with the idea of having your own bar?

Dávid: When we began thinking about our own place we envisioned ourselves and our friends standing at the counter. We imagined a place where we could spend a great time. Tamás: In 2008 I started Nappali Hos-tel upstairs and I was thinking about having some kind of hospitality for a long time, but I had nothing specific in my mind. Things were getting se-rious in late 2010. We needed about three months to develop our ideas and make them real.

That time almost every new spot tried to be a romkocsma (ruin pub). Why didn’t you hop on that train?

Dávid: Maybe the building was too beautiful. We didn’t have the heart to make it look ugly. Tamás: Besides that, we do keep track of the trends but we don’t make one-to-one copies. We re-think and adopt them in the best way we can.

Did you have a solid concept for the place?

Dávid: I had some vague visions but Tamás had clear concepts. He saw the walls in crimson and knew the pattern of the wall tiles, and where to get them. I was like, if he has some specific and good ideas I can ac-cept those, since I had no expertise in such things at all. This place used to be a bookshop and had a very ster-ile atmosphere. You had to use your imagination very much to visualize it like you see it today. We did a lot of the renovation works by ourselves.Tamás: Yes, I had some very specif-ic concepts about the visual stuff, but the most important part, the in-ner beauty, the cultural background was not that clear. That came in the planning phase. There is no point of opening a bar where you can get the same beverages as anywhere else. We wanted to have some real added value at Nappali.

Dante Cafe closed in 2009, and the almost equally legendary Kino Cafe closed in 2010. There was a big need for establishments like Nappali in 2011 when you opened. Did things change since then?

Dávid: There is always some fluctua-tion and a lot of people think that this is an easy job, since people always want to drink and have parties. But it’s hard work to constantly develop new ideas, having new products all the time and always changing some small details. This way it never gets boring for our customers and stays exciting for us too. Our regulars appreciate this and anything that may happen in Pécs does not put the position of Nappali at risk.Tamás: This is true right now but things can, and tend to change. I’d love to talk about the success of Nap-pali in ten years from now, but nobody can guarantee that. Also this is an in-spiration.

BEHINDTHE BAR

Hungarian newspapers tend to have nice and detailed articles about great venues

only when they are gone. We try to be different and pay tribute to one of the best

places of Pécs. And not because something bad happened, but the opposite.

Nappali Bar turned 5 years old and we interviewed the two masterminds behind

the institution. Dávid Felcser (left) and Tamás Szép (right) answered our questions

gladly inspite the fact that we sat down 10am on the first day of the celebration.

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Nappali doubled its size 1,5 years ago. Any future development plans?

Dávid: We do have some interesting ideas but we wouldn’t like to tell too much in advance.

I know that you are working on a new project not related to Nappali. Can you tell us more about that?

Dávid: We have been introduced to the idea of community foundations. We are going to set up one in Pécs, the second of its kind in Hungary. We were thinking a lot about the concept and we both came to the conclusion that we want to take part in this. There is a chance to create a sustainable and independent fund for local ideas and projects.Tamás: We have seen some best practices abroad, visited internation-al conferences and I see that this is working model. We will help to chan-nel local resources to those who need them and try to be independent from external sources.

The cultural and community build-ing efforts of Nappali can’t be de-nied. Do you see this as extra work or a mission?

Dávid: If you mean the discussions that we host, then I can only say that we have topics that are interesting for us on. Like sustainable development, ecological architecture, social issues, new economy models and so on. Tamás: Cultural events happen all the time in Pécs, but maybe we do have a special bundle. And it is very conse-quent from week to week.

Huge part of Nappali’s success de-pends on your employees. How does someone become a team member?

Dávid: We don’t look for profession-al waitresses or bartenders. We look for open minded people, and try to have harmonic working relationships. Training comes after that. Tamás: For most of the staff this is only a part of their life since we usual-ly work with university students. The

team is changing a lot and we have to admit that it’s not a good thing to do night shifts for too long, since you will burn out.

What do you think, how long can you keep going on?

Tamás: I try to be here as often as possible. I’m going to be 40 years old and have to cut back on night shifts. But our presence is necessary since our customers our used to us, we are the guarantee that everything is like it should be. Without us this wouldn’t be the same place anymore, and could change in a way that we wouldn’t like. Dávid: To be honest I have had enough of partying, e.g. I’m not drink-ing anymore. I try to grab the creative side of the work, and the execution is left to our talented managers. We are still the hosts, but don’t stand be-hind the counter as much as we used to. Our presence is also important be-cause we do know a lot of our custom-ers by name and we care about them.


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St Nicholas Water MillMohács is a little town, that is a 30 min-ute drive close to Pécs and its most fa-mous attraction is the annual celebra-tion busójárás in the end of carnival season. But thanks to determined locals who bought the ruins of an old water mill there is at least one more reasons to pay a visit. The last water mill in the vi-cinity of Mohács was in terribele condi-tion since nobody used it for more than 50 years. An activist bought the legal-ly protected historic work in 2007 and since then spends all his spare time and money to make it beautiful again. With great success.More info: patakmalom.hu

AlmalombThe Dallos-Böröcz water mill in Hosszúhetény is also the last of its kind but also with a new function. We wrote in detail about Almalomb restaurant that found its home here in the December 2015 issue of PCG, praising its constant-ly changing menu. But we have to also say that the water mill and its surround-ing has been revamped in a very unique way. The architects and interior design-ers delivered a beautiful and coherent work by bringing old and new things to-gether. That said, the water mill is only working with the help of electricity, but the effort should be praised too.More info: almalomb.com

Water Mill Museum OrfüThe decline of the water mills around Orfű started in the 1940s after the na-tionalization by communist Hungary. The negative processes here could be stopped in the 1970s thanks to the ef-forts of the museum of Pécs but it was the Füzes family that revamped it to a real operating mill again in the 1990s. Today the grandchildren of the miller dynasty are still involved in the opera-tion of the facility. A lot of tourist groups visit the mill each year and thanks to funding from the EU the internal and ex-ternal equipment and facilities have all been renovated and restored. More info: malommuzeum.hu/en

MILLING AROUND100 years ago almost 18,000 small (and not so small) water mills operated in Hungary. The industry changed and most of them vanished. In the past decade three water mills have been resurrected in the region. Each has a different background and function now, but each of them is worth a visit.

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PALACSINTAEggs, flour, milk. Crepes are nothing new, variants can be found all over the world and great is, that they can be eaten as starters, a main dish and of course desserts. Everything depends on

flavouring and the fillings. And your mood. Easy to make, but it’s even easier to buy them, since there are several places where you can get the Hungarian

version that is called palacsinta. But are they good enough?

Palacsinta ÖntödeIt’s great to finally have a palacsinta themed venue in town but it feels like they still have to learn a lot about great crepes. The interior is simple, the accessories are okay but the problems start already with the foundations. The palacsinta was always pre-made and just re-heated. The sweet fillings aren’t that bad (we tried 5 versions) but the toppings are just boring, cheap and we just felt them unneccessary. fb.com/ palacsintaontode | Ferencesek st 8

Miller’s CafeThe café at Árkád mall opened last autumn and we be-came fans of their crepes instantly. They don’t make them the Hungarian way, since the crepes are a little bit thicker but the quality is great. (And yes they also do have my fa-vourite filling: poppy seed-sour cherry.) A giant crepe can be a hearthy late breakfast or even a small lunch. fb.com/millerscafe2015 | Árkád (Bajcsy Zsilinszky st)

Maci LángosozóIt’s not a secret that Maci Lángosozó is the best source of quality lángos in Pécs. The second thing that comes to my mind when talking about the place is their palacsinta. It’s nothing special but a honest home made feeling that they do always deliver. The prices start are quite low you can get 4 different for HUF 500. Unfortunately, they also just re-heat previously made crepes, but still these are much more convincing.fb.com/MaciLangosozo | Szigeti st 51

Diós KisvendéglöFor a long time Diós Kisvendéglő used to be the only place to get giant palacsintas. Fortunately this has changed. When re-tested recently, we realized that their palacsin-ta is quite soggy, the fillings are of quite low quality. One of our reviewers feIt a little bit sick after eating the half of only one palacsinta. Not recommended.dioskisvendeglo.hu | Diósi st 46

Central Market HallThere are several shops in Central Market Hall where you can get palacsintas, but to be honest there is no big differ-ence between them all. Sure they are dirt cheap but the quality is not constant at all. To say the least. Sometimes you get fresh, superb palacsintas and sometimes they are just bad at the very same shop.Bajcsy-Zsilinszky st 25

Elixír RestaurantGreat about Elixír is that they have American style pan-cakes and palacsinta too. Both are made on order and are always fresh. I like their fillings, and they do have my all time favourite that is with poppy seeds. Three crepes cost HUF480 that is absolutely a bargain because you can choose the fillings.elixir-restaurant.hu | Ifjúság st 11


We were aware of the fact that Hun-garians do love pork hocks (csülök in Hungarian) in any form. On of the most fatty pork parts is the main component of the all famous csülökpörkölt (hock stew), but smoked, and roasted hocks are big favourites too. You can get great one’s at Bohemia or in the parking lot of Praktiker (no joke).

What we didn’t know is that the in-gredient can lead to such a hustle on social media. The big attraction of Pécs-Patacs Csülök Bar, where almost everything was made of ham hocks, has been closed in February to re-open in a neighbouring building this summer. But the original venue got a new tenant with a very similar concept. Ham hocks.

FEKETE KUTYA STEPS INTO THE GAME OF HAM HOCKS

The guys of Fekete Kutya Csülkösház, that opened a couple of weeks ago at the same place (Pellérdi st 37) wer-en’t thinking too long about what peo-ple would need and opened their own ham hock themed restaurant. A flame war started on Facebook in January al-ready, but we are not interested in that, instead we tested the quality of the foods in the newly opened restaurant.

The new management didn’t change too much on the design, the differenc-es are in the details. To check as many hock variations as possible we ordered the hock plate (HUF 3590) for two per-sons. We had to wait about 20-25 min-utes for the huge portion but there was no full house. They presented a crispy

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SMOKED, FRIED, CRISPY

and tender whole roasted hock with lots of garlic on the outside and this was the best dish on the plate. The two deep fried hock versions ain’t gon-na be my favourites, they didn’t have enough flavour and weren’t tender enough. But the deep fried pork loin filled with smoked hock was also very delicious. The fries were quite okay, and the pickled vegetables too, but could have been more.

I’m not saying that I’m not going to visit the place again but the plate was a little bit disappointing. The next time I will try dishes on their own, like the smoked and cooked hocks with bean pottage, or the crepes filled with hocks and sour cream.

best of baranyaThe Dining Guide Top 100 is one of

the oldest restaurant review publica-tions in Hungary. Since 2004, every year more and more establishments from all around the country are tested and the editors of the guide present the results in the end of February. This time more than 200 restaurants have been tested. There have been a lot of changes to the publication and the testing method it-self.

Though there is no big surprise: the majority of the restaurants are situated

in Budapest, but fortunately more and more from the Pécs and Baranya region make it to the TOP20.

Two restaurants from Villány Halasi Restaurant and Mandula, and Susogó from Pécs got 73 points. Jókai Bisztró received 71 points, while Bock Óbor Restaurant got 63 points. Zsolnay Res-taurant and Balkán Bisztró from Pécs, Almalomb from Hosszúhetény and Ten-kes Csárda from Siklós made it to the recommended category. Congratula-tions!

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CELEBRATE WITH LOCAL WINES

The professionals at Borháló Pécs show us around in the shop, always ready to help to choose the best from their great collection of local

wines. No wonder they do focus and bet on the Zierfandler - a variety that plays a big role in the city and the Pécs wine region.

But sure, the main profile of the franchise is to have the wines of the biggest and best Hungarian wineries in their portfolio - at discount prices. This can be achieved thanks to eco-nomic packagings like bag in boxes and magnum bottles. Also, they do have great products in all segments, thus their shop is not only a great source for getting the supplies for parties but you can get professional help when looking for great presents and nice souveniers.

The Borháló shop at Széchenyi square is also a meeting point, a great location for their regular wine tastings, that is getting an even big-ger co-venue. The fantastic neigh-bouring spot Nick-court is going to be the location of the upcoming Rosé Festival, where you can taste 30 different rosés.

Tickets are already available (HUF2000) in the shop for the event on April 23, starting at 4pm.

Local wineries play a very important role In the local shops of Hungarian wine merchant franchise Borháló. The shop at Széchenyi square is great spot to prepare for the next party, and other upcoming celebrations.

UPCOMING EVENTSIN SPRING

APRIL 1 WINE TASTING

Introducing Zoltán Szabó’s Winery (Hosszúhetény)

APRIL 8 WINE TASTING

Introducing Lelovits Winery (Villány)

APRIL 23 ROSÉ FESTIVAL

MAY 4-8 BOR, MÁMOR, PÉCS FESTIVAL

MAY 14 2ND GASTRONAUTIC FESTIVAL

MAY 27 ‘CHILDREN’S DAY’ WINE TASTING

ADDRESS: SZÉCHENYI TÉR 11 PHONE: 72/212-811, 72/210-740 E-MAIL: [email protected]

FB.COM/BORHALO


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There are a couple of places in Pécs – mainly in downtown – where you can get a delicious and/or healthy break-fast, and Kisbalkán is another great ad-dition in Zsolnay Cultural Quarter. We loved the predecessor in the very same shop and are happy now that the place just got even better.

The name Kisbalkán (Little Balkans in English) is trying to tell you that the small bakery has strong ties to Balkán Bisztró

in Ferencesek street and maybe you’d like to know that the bread used to ac-company the dishes in the restaurant is made at this little shop from now on.

But Kisbalkán is a great venue on its own. You can maybe guess, the main

KISBALKÁN’S CROISSANT IS THE BEST RIGHT NOW

product line of the shop consists of sweet and salty bakery products like rolls, cookies, breads, and their superb croissant. (Just a short flashback: for a long time Enoteca Corso in Király street had the best croissant in town but the restaurant has been closed.) The pow-er of real butter, unspoiled flour and careful preparation is with the bakers of Kisbalkán now.

But what else do you need for a su-perb breakfast? Actually I know what I do need, several cups of great coffee. No sur-

prise here: the managers of the shop voted for the same brand as in Balkán Bisztro for a good reason. Sure this is another take and maybe a little bit different blend from the Lucky Cup mi-cro roastery, but this Italian

style is also very tasty.Also there is a big range of dairy prod-

ucts and cereals available, everything of great quality. I should also mention that they have different types loaves of bread but you have to preorder.

farmers’markets

Finally, it’s the time of the year again when the fresh produces of local farm-ers start to appear on local markets. In the last couple of years several farmers’ markets emerged from nothing.

Though, the usage of public spaces as markets is nothing new, and there are several best practic-es all around the world, up until recently buying local vegetables, smoked meats, eggs, cheese used to be an exclusive opportunity for the central market hall. That said, the majority of the sellers are still merchants there. But according to the latest plans this is going to change ‘soon’, since the planned new central market hall, that will be built next to the old one, has to accomodate much more farmers. Until then, you can buy produces from real farmers every Saturday morning at Búza square.

We’d love to get the same experience

somewhere downtown

SUPERB BREAKFAST

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Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFZ) is considered to be the best that classical music has to offer in Hungary and their performences are really unforgettable experiences. And we are quite fortu-nate that they regularly visit one of the best concert halls of Southern Europe that happens to be in Pécs. This time two international classic music stars

The Kodály Centre resident Pannon Phil-harmonic Orchestra (PFZ) teams up with conductor Paolo Paroni (pictured above) to introduce three Italian pieces to the audience. There is time in evening for Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Major, be-sides the works of Corelli, Respighi and Casella being the main attractions.April 14, 7pm, Kodály Centre (Breuer M. st 4) HUF1000-5990.

The guys of the progrock band from Budapest couldn’t be more timely. Just one day after the live debut of their lat-est LP Grand Mexican Warlock in the capitol they introduce the new album to the audience of Pécsi Est Café too.

The untitled 8-track record bets on the best practices of the supergoup (the members do play in several other bands) so be prepared for some dark

and energetic tunes that incorporate the primal sounds of stoner and psy-chedelic rock but only after applying some unique touches.

The band also knows how to prepare and tease their fans: new songs from the latest album were intuduced al-ready last December.April 16, 9pm, Pécsi Est Café (Rákóc-zi str 46) Free.

GRAND MEXICAN WARLOCK

BFZ & KIM KASHKASIANare going to join them: the violist, Gram-my-award winner Kim Kashkasian and the conductor David Robertson. Their performences will include the works of Franz Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2), Bartók-Serly (Viola Concerto), and J. Ad-ams (Harmonielehre). April 9, 7pm, Kodály Centre (Breuer M. st 4) HUF4900/6900.

ROCK MAGIC

PFZ & ITALY

PUD @ ZSCQHere is a short reminder that this is the month when Pécs University Days takes place. We hope all of you already got the tickets for the 3-day festival where international bands like Dope D.O.D., dj’s like Bassjackers (pic above) or Jazzy Jeff will perform. April 28-30, Zsolnay Cultural Quarter Info: fb.com/pecsiegyeteminapok

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Wine of Pécs The choosing of the official wines of Pécs is an open process. Everyone can taste the competi-tors, vote for them and the jury considers the votes of the audi-ence in the final round. Wineries enroll their best and most popu-lar produces so its not only a fun but very priceworthy event.May 6, 3pm, Pécs Gallery (Széchenyi sqr) HUF 1500.

Camilo & TomatitoLatin jazz and flamenco may be not the most trendy genres of music but what about seeing Grammy award winners perform-ing live in Pécs? This is exactly what this evening offers. May 11, Kodály Centre (Breuer Marcell 4) Info: pecsprogram.hu

Zsolnay PicnicThanks to mild spring weath-er cultural and arts festivals can go open air for sure in the end of May. Zsolnay Piknik is a one weekend long take of the genre where free events and evening concerts peacefully complement eachother. May 20-22, Zsolnay Cultural Quarter Info: pecsprogram.hu

PREVIEW:EVENTS IN MAY

There is a strange but also interesting new trend gaining ground: in the last couple of years more and more wine re-lated sports events came to existence. It is even more interesting, that these events are quite popular from the very first moment. One of the younger wine related running events is organized for

the second time in Palkonya. Not only the village and its vicinity is lovely but the slogan for the event: ‘Run in beau-tiful places.’ There are two tracks: the easy is 9.9 km while the more advanced is 19 km long. April 23, 11am, Palkonya More info: dulofutas.hu

VINEYARD RUNNING

Without doubt Ilona Keserű Ilona is one of the most acclaimed artists of Pécs. Born in 1933 she not only witnessed the developments of modern art but played a huge role in the Hungarian contempo-rary art scene.

She did so partly thanks to her works but as a teacher she played a similarly huge role in the artistic development of generations. Art critics say that in right

from her early years on she had a very intuitive style. After her studies in the 1950s in Italy she was the first Hungarian painter to leave avantgarde behind and starting her own phrasing of art, backed by structural and analytical fundaments. She also used to be the mentor of the an-nul workshop ColorPower/ScalingUp.March 11-May 18, M21 Gallery (Zsol-nay Cultural Quarter) HUF250-500.

RETROSPECTIVE OF ILONA KESERÜ ILONA’S WORKS

VISUAL OUTBURST

WINESPORTS


What better way to start a seri-ous issue than with a joke, so we ask the readers: which or-

gan contains the most spirit? Well, the answer is: the church organ. Bad jokes aside, Pécs has a whole lot to do with these monsters of instruments.

The historical traditions of organ building reach back to the 19. centu-ry, when József Angster (1834-1918) founded his manufacture in Pécs. Un-til the second world war, the compa-ny built 1300 of the magnificent in-struments for churches, concert halls and thousands of smaller versions for homes and schools. But as religion and its instruments were ruled a thing of the past in the communist era, the success-ful workshop was shut down and torn apart. Pécs however did not forget one of its first central industrial figures, so Angster’s name is held by a street in the Mecsek and by the city’s biggest tech-nical training school.

After democracy returned, the tra-dition was picked up by a descend-ant of one of Angster’s original crew,

Attila Budavári. In the footsteps of his great-great-grandfather he studied the craft in European workshops and start-ed a new company in Pécs with busi-ness partner Antal Végh. The restart in the form of Organ Manufacturing Com-pany of Pécs (Pécsi Orgonaépítő Man-ufaktúra) was also authorized by the grandson of József Angster. The com-pany is a success ever since, working with more than 40 professionals.

More than a hundred new or renovat-ed organs show that the craft is back in business, the builders of Pécs are of-fered projects everywhere from Aus-tria to the US. The jobs are usually co-lossal: bringing back such a complex structure to life may require 10-12 years of work and the final bill can reach six digits in euros.

There is only one minor dent in the story: the famous Pécs concert venue, Kodály Centre opened in 2010 but it is still waiting for its organ. The strained construction budget could not include the necessary 200 million forints, so a local businessman, Ferenc Schef-

fer stepped in. He offered the money in his deceased son’s memory – but a debate with the city kept the donation away so far.

Apart from this episode Pécs, the or-gans and the factory are in a vital con-nection. No wonder that the commu-nity felt the need to commemorate this heritage - hence the slightly strange organ statue in Nyugati Várfalsétány. The metal structure was built similar-ly to real organ pipes, while its sounds come from loudspeakers. Visitors sit-ting on benches around the statue can hear recordings of organ pieces and conversations remembering the histo-ry of Angster and the companies.

To close up, we just can not let you off without another possible organ-relat-ed joke. So you may already heard that Pécs is often called the Hungarian Liv-erpool because of the so many young and successful music bands that start here. But on the basis of the hundreds of years of organ-building tradition, we think that Pécs could also be called the Hungarian Angsterdam…

VITAL ORGANSby

László Nógrádi

Esse

ntia

ls

23

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April 2016 - Issue 10 - Pécs City Guide

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