On 15 March, in the midst of Hungary’s election campaign, Budapest got a new museum. The Money Museum – the brainchild of Hungarian national bank governor György Matolcsy, known for his unorthodox economic policies – promises to take visitors on “a carefully constructed experience journey around the world of money”, at its new location in the basement of a central bank building.
For Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who is seeking his fourth consecutive term in office at the national elections on Sunday, the unveiling of an emblematic building has often played a key part in his campaigns.
In 2002, when Orbán was still a vehement critic of Russia, it was the Terror House, which mainly documents Soviet crimes against Hungarians after the Second World War. In 2014, it was the newly renovated Várkert Bazár, which Orbán opened to media fanfare as his campaign reached its climax, only for it to close for more work the day after the election.
