Last year, that government published that they were considering the possibility of relocating the Hungarian Natural History Museum to the countryside. Debrecen is one of the possible locations.
László Papp, the Mayor of Debrecen, agrees with the government’s intention to create strong regional centers in addition to a strong capital in order to improve the country’s competitiveness.
Debrecen is one of the most competitive regional centers
Debrecen has excellent features. It has a university with a broad training spectrum, good transport network, an international airport and a good natural environment. The Mayor believes that Debrecen would be a great location for the Natural History Museum to operate from.
In recent years, Debrecen has received many awards, for example the Financial Times has chosen Debrecen as the city of the Future of Europe.
The city is currently discussing the conditions of any potential relocation to Debrecen, with the Ministry of Human Resources and the Museum of Natural History.
The University of Debrecen has also joined the process. With 35,000 students the museum could play an integral role in education. The University of Debrecen could offer museologists special courses.
One of the biggest challenges of the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest is that it is one museum of many. In Debrecen, it would be positioned as one of the most dominant museums.
If the museum moved to Debrecen, the related scientific and research processes in the city would be strengthened.
Based on preliminary figures, if the Déri Museum can attract 159,000 visitors, the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Debrecen can, therefore, have more visitors here in Debrecen than it would in the capital.