History, commemorative spaces and heritage: interpretation of 20th century Hungarian traumas in the 21st century

Purpose This research paper examines 20th century memorial sites in Hungary with a variety of themes, which attempt to process historical events at the national and local levels of memory and identity building after the totalitarian regimes. The focus of the study is on the process of heritagization and institutionalisation, so the main analytical aspects of our examination are as follows: what – political, economical, cultural, etc – intents can be discerned in their creation and operation; to what extent have they become the heritage of the local or national community and to what extent are they attractions and whether they operate as a memorial site in terms of new museology. Design/methodology/approach Methodology includes cultural statistical data analysis and management interviews. Findings The development and ritualisation of political memory after the change of regime can be seen as the most decisive factor in the process of institutionalisation, in which the civil sphere is also active as the guardian of communicative memory. The degree of national embeddedness is high, and in the case of the museums in Budapest, the role of international tourism is prominent. In addition to the emphasis on personal knowledge transfer, some of the institutions use special forms of presentation that are tailored to the specific memory space and require interactivity. Originality/value The musealisation, cultural role and interpretational toolkit of the memorial topography of the 20th century’s collective traumas is a gap in Hungarian tourism research. Results are expected to contribute to the development of the dark tourism supply in Hungary in a way that involves and sensitizes both the local community and visitors and takes into account sustainable tourism aspects.