The Marzipan Museum - an amazing ode to a favourite sweet - in a remote Hungarian town

Marzipan – savour the word on your tongue and it brings to mind those delicately flavoured many shaped sweets made from almonds which we loved, especially made at Christmas time. We were shocked to find a museum dedicated to just Marzipan !!

Marzipan is a world favourite but in case you haven’t yet tried it, marzipan  is made from sugar, honey, and crushed almond meal making it soft, chewy and with a sweet, nutty flavour.

We were in a group on a tour named “The Danube Bend Tour” - see separate blog on that – and the last port of call was a small town called Szentendre from where we were to take a cruise down the river Danube back to Budapest. 

We had just been to a smaller village in Slovenia for a photo op and after couple of stops landed up in Szentendre. By car its about 40 – 60 minutes away from Budapest; by boat about the same depending upon the river currents. It is popular  as an artists village.

Until the end of the 16th century, Szentendre was just a small village. However, its fortunes changed with the arrival of outsiders: Serbs from the Balkans because of the wars against the Ottomans; Dalmatians, Greeks, and Slovaks followed. Where people go, their own cultures follow. Its not surprising but the beauty of the village is such that it acquired a reputation as an artist’s village - a large number of art galleries, studios, and workshops help Szentendre earn its reputation as an “Artists' Village.”

But, to my mind, its more famous for its Szamos Marzipan museum. The workshops and knowledge of two great figures in the history of the Hungarian confectionery industry - Matyas Szamos and Karoly Szabo – came together in Szentendre, when the jointly operated shop opened to its customers.

On the Main Street is the entry to the sales shop selling the various varieties of marzipan products. Apart from marzipan products, they offer quality Hungarian wines, Tokay, brandies, paprika, salami, goose liver, Unicum, and ice-cream in the summer.

The entry to the museum is in the side lane. On the 1st floor, the Marzipan Museum awaits its visitors with a rich exhibition.  Hungarians take their marzipan very seriously and this confectioner is famous for taking it to the most renowned levels. A visit to the Marzipan Museum will show you statues made from the sweet almond paste--even a few life-sized statues of celebrities. 

There are many rooms in the museum – actually it’s a house or two houses joined internally – and we go from one room to another.  The exhibits are in glass cases and under strict humidity control. I asked the Receptionist about the life of each sculpture – because basically at some time, it will disintegrate. She said that the Company changes the pieces from time to time.

The very first sculpture is a life size work of Michael Jackson. The follow a series of works of famous people and buildings and scenes from fairy tales – I was delighted to see these as I had forgotten so many of them! What I really appreciated apart from the phenomenal attention to detail, were the facts about the sculpture – the name of the creator, the weight, time taken to make it etc. It gave authenticity to it. 

 

This magnificent huge work is absolutely realistic. 

So, like I did, just have a slow walk along the exhibits and appreciate the classic workmanship. 

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