Welcome to the Hospital in the Rock Museum!

Open: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-20:00. Last entry 19:00.

Guided tours depart on the hour. Groups of more than 15 people must be registered at the info@sziklakorhaz.hu email address. To arrange incentive adventure programmes for your employees and friends – see the "Programs" tab. Buy original souvenirs and support the reservation of the museum that operates without state support. To view the comments written in the guest book choose the "Feedback" tab. For useful practical information click at the "FAQ" tab.

Permanent exhibitions:

Second World War military hospital and medical exhibition (1944-45, 1956)

Second World War German command and coordination post (1945)

Nuclear bunker and civil defence exhibition (Cold War period 1950-1970)

Medical instruments and apparatus of wartime supply (1944-1980)

According to Pesti Est Magazine and others, the Hospital in the Rock is the Best Exhibition of the Year

To 'About the Museum'

About the Museum

The Hospital in the Rock is a former top-secret Nuclear Bunker and Emergency Hospital, codenamed LOSK 0101/1. The institution is incomparable not just in the history of Hungary but it is an international sensation as well. The hospital teaches through the spirit of the place rather than with displaying cabinets and tableaus. You can experience real excitement in the rambling chambers furnished with wax figures and fittings from the period as you discover the war-time conditions and the Cold War instruments in their original environment. Except for the Terror House, there is no other museum in Hungary where the events of 1945 and 1956 are portrayed and exhibited in the original environment where they took place. The institution was the defenders’ last working hospital in the course of the 1945 siege. With the hospital running at three or four times its capacity, countless wounded were treated here under dreadful conditions.

Likewise in 1956 the wounded were tended, and many of them were later imprisoned after their recovery. The modern hospital equipment from the 60s has been left intact to this day. The machinery still functions and fulfils its tasks day after day. Visitors can see the hospital’s period fittings. In the History of Military Treatments exhibitions wax figures bring the war-time conditions into life. The Second World War German-Hungarian command post is a new feature opened in 2009. (The actual command post was in the cave complex in the hospital environs.) The Cold War civil defence equipments – from gas masks and chemical defence equipments to preparations for handling radiation sickness – remained the eerie memento of the period. The institution is considered to be a technological rarity. Further information can be found under "History" and "Witnesses" in the menu.

Welcome to a historical time journey to a gruesome but still human and informative period of the twentieth century.

The ticket prices include the fee for the tour guide (the institution can only be visited with a guide) and VAT. Tours depart every hour on the hour during opening times. A guide in Hungarian and English is always available. Groups should contact us by phone or email 24 hours before the visit for a special schedule or to request a different language of guidance. For every twenty persons, there is free entry for a tour guide. Information on incentive adventure programs can be found under the "Programs" tab. For discount days click here.

Full tour: duration: 60 minutes, covering the entire World War II military hospital and the nuclear bunker extensions.

Qualification for discounts must be verified at the time of purchase by the production of a photo identity document.

No cumulative discounts, except the group discount.

We accept Sodexho and Accor Edenred? Ticketexpress gift and culture vouchers, and Hungarian government holiday cheques.

* Qualified for discount admission:

• 6 – 25 year-old EU citizens
• 6 – 25 year-olds with international student identity card
• 62 - 70 year-old EU citizens

** Qualified for free admission:

• Under 6 years of age
• EU citizens above 70 years of age
• The disabled and their escorts (maximum 1 person per qualified individual)
• Those with a professional admission ticket issued by the Minister
• Those entitled on the basis of international treaties

(On account of mandatory statistics we register free admissions with a 1 Ft symbolic ticket, the value of which is zero due to rounding rules)

Annual discount calendar:

We offer permanent discounts so that the museum can reach as many people as possible.

Flaslight tour every evening! For the bold and brave we recommend the flaslight tour starting at 19:00 daily. Participate in the quest for the lost treasures of Count Gorgey.

Extraordinary offers:

Saturday the 13th of November*, December: Christmas offer**.

* The Autumn Night of Museums, see: http://www.muzeumokejszakaja.hu/.

** Entry tickets can be bought at a discount price as Christmas gifts. The offer will be announced in November.

On foot: The Lovas Street entrance to the hospital is two minutes walk from Matthias Church. The Hospital in the Rock entrance can be found at the foot of the castle wall, on Lovas Street beneath Szentháromság Street / Tóth Árpád Promenade.

By public transport: The closest bus stop can be found at Szentháromság Square. The number 16 bus (Moszkva Square – Deák Square) as well as the 16A and the 116 (Moszkva Square – Dísz Square) stop there.

The closest metro station: M2 Moszkva Square (then on foot: Várfok Street – Lovas Street) or the Déli Railway Station (Vérmező, steps).

By car: you can turn into Lovas Street (one-way street) and usually on weekdays parking spaces are found in the vicinity. The parking fee is 500 Ft per hour. Buses cannot turn into Lovas Street. For our part we recommend the bus park located on Palota Street.

GoogleMaps opens in a new window when the map is clicked on. This incorrectly depicts the entrance to the Hospital in the Rock, which can be found 50m along on the other side of the street.

Schools, travel agencys and corporate groups can be registered and prices can be requested via the info@sziklakorhaz.hu email address.

– Discounts and downloadable information for schools and other groups

– Downloadable agreement of cooperation and order form for travel agencies

– Extramural history lesson: The Siege of Budapest, 1956, the Cold War in Themes

– Historical games, treasure hunt, secret-solving adventure programmes, incentives

– Civil defence instruction and thematic activity

– Medicine thematic activity

– Corporate programmes, specially atmospheric programme possibilities, film shooting

– "Nuclear disaster" extreme, immersive adventure programme

Group ticket prices: For schools and other students and OAP groups of more than 15 persons the admission price for the full 60-minute tour is 1350 Ft per person. For every twenty persons admission is free for one teacher/guide, and 1350 Ft each in the case of greater numbers. In the case of the 30-minute World War II tour the price is 900 Ft per person with corresponding conditions. The price includes the guide. Out of consideration for the museum and war memorial nature of the institution, we request that tour guides acutely take care of discipline. Choose our optional programmes and our extra-mural history lesson!

Downloadable information guide for schools (.pdf 473 KB).

Travel agencies: we offer our partner programme in a contract framework to travel agencies in return for a discount programme and ticket sales possibilities.

As a quality tourist attraction in Buda Castle, the Hospital in the Rock is easily joined with visits to the castle, thematic "retro" programmes, or adventure programmes.

Its cool, 15?°C temperature is a refuge from the hot summer sun. Our guests can buy refreshments in the Bunker Bar, and clean toilets are at their service.

The complete normal group visit and incentive program can be offered to your clients. Inquire via the info@sziklakorhaz.hu email address.

Downloadable agreement of cooperation: MINTA_Sziklakorhaz_em_megall_2010.doc ( .doc 43 KB )

Extramural history lesson: acquaint your students and guests with the fateful periods of Hungary’s history in this incomparable location among historical events and in a historical environment. On demand we hold a 30-45-minute long, extramural history lesson and presentation enlivened with projections. The viewing of the institution is after the presentation (with the appropriate group discount admission prices).

Themes that can be chosen, which our expert presenters interpret for audience older than 8 years old:

The Siege of Budapest 1944-45

A presentation enlivened with maps and contemporary news items about true, undistorted events, human destinies and decisions, which led to the devastation of Budapest. We shape the presentation as a function of age and interest. Naturally, the history of the Hospital in the Rock during this time receives special mention, enriched with the reminiscences of eye witnesses.

The 1956 Revolution

A summary of the revolutionary events and military operations, their meaning and impact.

The Cold War – Nuclear Menace

A guide, befitting the spirit of the location, to the strategies and nuclear instruments of the Cold War and the opposing sides, civil defence and the role of nuclear bunkers.

Historical games and "incentive" programmes – contests, "treasure hunt" search games and group tasks connected to the 1945, 1956 and Cold War periods of the hospital. With the help of our colleagues the participants compete against each other as teams of spies, and take part in interesting public health, military and civil defence games. A guaranteed unforgettable experience.

Civil Defence Thematic Activity

Civil defence tasks, such as the preparation of inhabitants for defence, warning and informing them, are shown with picture reports prepared from one of the exercises in the Museum’s educational programme. Furthermore, we provide instructions on the functions to carry out in the course of the evacuation and relocation of inhabitants in the case of emergency. A thematic guided tour of the Hospital in the Rock constitutes part of the programme. In the course of the guided tour there is an opportunity to get to know certain civil defence devices and instruments and also to try on some (e.g. gas masks, chemical protection clothing, dosimeter, air-raid siren). The participants note down in exercise books the information they have succeeded in picking up in the course of the presentations and guided tour. The cleverest students get a reward. The duration of the programme is 2-3 hours according to requirements.

Medicine Thematic Activity

In the Museum’s educational programme, participants can examine the administration of first aid and wartime medical treatment: essential tasks in the case of emergency; different types of injuries and their treatment; winter and summer accidents. In addition, they receive a short guide to wartime medicine enlivened with picture reports and the accounts of eye witnesses. A thematic guided tour of the Hospital in the Rock constitutes part of the programme, walking through the former locations of wartime medicine. The participants note down in exercise books the information they have succeeded in picking up in the course of the presentations and guided tour. The cleverest students get a reward. The duration of the programme is 2-3 hours according to requirements.

Programmes

In individual locations of the Hospital in the Rock that are suitable for outside logistics to be brought in, there is the opportunity for corporate events, projections, presentations, receptions, concerts and filming.

A 50-person reception hall is available with the possibility of seating, sound amplification and projectors. A 100-person, 144 sqm reception hall can be rented for standing receptions or seated programmes with your own furniture. Inquiries to the info@sziklakorhaz.hu email address.

"Nuclear Disaster" Extreme Programme: There is the opportunity to "perform" the civil defence protocol, which the personnel would have had to carry out in the hospital in the event of a nuclear disaster. Naturally all of this is possible with basic technical guidance and direction. After the guidance, the programme comprises the air-warning, the trying on of a gas mask and individual protective gear, the lock-down, and then the decontamination procedure. In the 40-year-old infrastructure, a survival strategy has to be agreed, the tasks for the following 72 hours have to be arranged, the quartering and sustenance of the team has to be ensured, and then the expected situations have to be prepared for. Teams can compete with each other. The length of the programme is 2-5 hours according to requirements. A price offer can be requested by email.

The pictures are from an April 2009 programme.

If you have knowledge that is personal or from reliable sources about the history of the “Hospital in the Rock” or about events there, please contact us either by phone (+36 30 689 8775) or email: tanu@sziklakorhaz.hu.

Player

Except for the House of Terror there is no institution in Hungary today that was used in 1944-45 and 1956, and that currently has life-like exhibitions showing the contemporary events. Most institutions and memorials record the destruction, while the Sziklakórház commemorates the self-sacrifice of the doctors and nurses of the Second World War who stood up to their commitments in the most difficult conditions and maintained this bizarre fortress of healing till the last moments.

This institution was secret until 2002, and thus the research of its history has only started very recently. Unfortunately most witnesses are not alive any more, nevertheless we would like to ask the survivors or their relatives to come forward in order that we can get to know the imperfectly known history of the hospital better.
Thank you.

Some of the reminiscences:

Endre B.: Though visiting brought back all those awful memories from lying here as a patient in November, December of 1956. I’m so grateful that 51 years later I could return. I pray that nobody should ever have to come here as a patient ever again. 2007. XI. 16.

Mária D.: I was here as an assistant-nurse when I was 16 (during WWII from December 1944 to May 1945); the rooms are just as I remember them. Thank you so much for making the tour authentic. 2007. XI.3.

Gizella Gy.: I worked here from 25th October until the 22nd of December 1956 as a nurse. Re-entering [the facility] cause my heart to sink [in sorrow as I recalled those] people severely injured, lying on the ground and waiting for another’s death so that they’d get a place in a bed. 2008. II. 02

Mihály B.: I suffered facial wounds towards the end of the Siege. With my head bandaged, I managed to walk into the Hospital in the Rock where my injuries were x-rayed by the one and only operating X-ray machine due to the working generators of electricity of the hospital. 2008. IX.

Mrs. Ferenc V.: Thank you, my mother was here as an assistant nurse during the Second World War, hence this exhibition was a poignant personal experience. 2008. IV. 05.

László E.: Finally we could see the inside of the Hospital in the Rock, where my grandfather – János K. a founding member of the College of Physical Education – passed away in February 1945 after suffering fatal bomb injuries despite all the careful nursing. 2008. III.

Anna B. (Netherlands): I worked here as nurse during the war. As a colleague of the Red Cross I was Raul Wallenberg’s assistant. The overcrowding and the lack of bandages and medicine were horrible. We had to take the bandages off the dead and while we still had water we washed those and gave them to the newly wounded... 2008.V.

Lenke B.: I lay here from 31 December 1944 till 15 April 1945. I had a granede shrapnel wound on my leg. I am really grateful to the surgeon Dr. András Seibringer due to whom my leg was not amputated and I can still walk at the age of 81! 2008.V.

Mrs. József E: I gave birth here in November 1956, it was an unforgettable experience!
Sári E.:And I was born here!. 2008. VI.

Saint John’s Hospital

Directorate of National Disaster Management

Directorate of Civil Defence, Budapest

MoD Institute and Museum of Military History

Military Museum Foundation

Institute for Medical Supplies and Inventory Management

Municipality of Budapest

Hungarian Red Cross

MoD Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University, Dept. of Communications

Hungarian Civil Defence Association

Civil Defence and Disaster Management Association Budapest

Géza Kresz Ambulance and Rescue Museum

Museum of Information Foundation

Budapest Tourism Office

Hungarian Tourism Card

Budapest Funzine

Hungary Online Programmes

INCORONATA the Cultural Centre of the Matthias Church

The Budapest Zoo

Bozzay Law Office

Gift Shop and Bunker Bar, Coffee, soft drinks and sandwiches are available to our customers in the Bunker Bar.

The Gift Shop offers a wide selection of unique souvenirs.

The following list is only an excerpt from the full list of items that can be requested by email from info@sziklakorhaz.hu. The items can be paid by wire transfer and postal cheque. The following prices include VAT but do not include the cost of postage & packaging, which is determined on ordering. Original pieces are available while stocks last.

Russian gas mask set 2000 Ft	Hungarian 1967 M gas mask set 1500 Ft	Petrol lamp 2000 Ft
Hungarian Army artificial leather map-holder bag 2500 Ft	Aluminium medical case 2500 Ft	Original metal syringes 800-1200 Ft
Soap holder (without soap) 100 Ft	Metal portable water bottles 1500 Ft	Hungarian cutlery set 2000 Ft
Hungarian Army mess-tin 1500 Ft	Metal-framed PVC stretcher 1000 Ft	The 1956 Revolution 2000 Ft
Hungarian Army trench coat 1000 Ft	Hungarian Army training fatigue jacket 1500 Ft	Telescopic cup 1500 Ft
The Last Breath of Communism 500 Ft	Posters 1500 Ft	Postcards A6: 150 Ft, A4: 500 Ft