Opening hours:
- Tuesday–Thursday: 10 am – 6 pm
- Friday: 9 am – 7 pm
Visitors are welcome by appointment via email at fenykeptar@oszk.hu [1] or interjutar@oszk.hu [2].
Please indicate your intention to visit at least 24 hours in advance, if possible.
If you are unable to come despite your reservation, please let us know so that we can allocate the available seat to others.
Document preparation: document preparation can be requested
- in person in the research room,
- via phone (Photo Collection: 224-3763 és 224-3613, Interview Collection: 224-3710)
- via e-mail (fenykeptar@oszk.hu [1], interjutar@oszk.hu [2]).
Requests received before 2 pm for photographic documents can be delivered on the same day, requests received after 2 pm will be available the following day.
Audiovisual and audio documents can only be provided to our readers on the basis of a prior request, at the earliest the day after the request is submitted, provided it is received by 2 pm. In special cases, it may take several days to produce a research copy.
The research room of the Historical Photography and Interview Collection can be accessed from the catalogue area on level 7 of the library. The ‘chapel’ is at the end of a corridor used as a workspace, so to enter, please check in at the circulation desk so that our colleagues can escort you to the research room, the glass door of which features a zoomed-in panoramic photograph of Budapest taken in 1873. This door leads into a multi-functional space that provides a venue for learning about analogue photographic technologies, browsing digital databases and viewing our collection of historical interviews.
Our permanent exhibition showcases valuable relics from the Photography Collection. The research room has been known as a chapel hall by the library staff. Named after its hipped roof, it probably once served as a gateway to the Sigismund Chapel behind the Matthias Fountain, in one of the niches of which the Holy Right was kept between 1901 and 1944.
The research room is shared by readers and staff. To avoid disturbing each other, movable privacy panels separate the work area from the researchers’ desks. The work area is also equipped with scanners, a light table and a repro stand, which visitors can occasionally try out.
We can accommodate eight researchers at a time, four of whom can conduct research in the Historical Interview Collections’ recorded interviews, other documents and online, while the other four can consult analogue photographs and albums.
Movable furniture and privacy panels will also allow the installation of a lecture hall for conferences and workshops.
Video of the research room [3]