We are pleased to inform our esteemed researchers that, as of 13 October 2025, our special collections will once again be accessible, with the exception of the manuscript collections and 18th-century documents.
The Reading Room, along with the available library and archival services, is open on weekdays between 9:00 AM and 7:30 PM.
For further information, please follow the updates on our website.
As part of the Autumn Festival of Museums, between 13 October and 7 November 2025, we invite lovers of science and books to our varied programmes.
Our guests can take part in guided tours of the restoration workshop, library and university history, during which visitors can discover some old books. All visitors are welcome to attend the event series!
Guided by our restorer, guests can get a taste of paper-casting and bookbinding techniques. They will learn about the process of book disinfection and old bookbinding techniques.
Programme dates:
15 October 2025 (Wednesday) 10:00–11:00
15 October 2025 (Wednesday) 17:00–18:00
17 October 2025 (Friday) 10:00–11:00
17 October 2025 (Friday) 17:00–18:00
22 October 2025 (Wednesday) 10:00–11:00
22 October 2025 (Wednesday) 17:00–18:00
5 November 2025 (Wednesday) 10:00–11:00
5 November 2025 (Wednesday) 17:00–18:00
7 November 2025 (Friday) 10:00–11:00
7 November 2025 (Friday) 17:00–18:00
Library tour
On our library tours you can learn about the history of the ELTE University Library and Archives.
Our mini exhibition „Book, Robe, Science – Symbols from the history of Eötvös Loránd University” presents the major turning points in the history of Eötvös Loránd University, with the help of memorabilia from the University Library and Archives.
Through symbols, our guests can follow the development of the Jesuit-founded institution serving Catholic education, from its transformation into a state and royal university to the 300th anniversary of its foundation. After the university reform in 1949, many traditions were ceased to be practised and the related representative objects were transferred to museums. The fate of these objects in the 20th and 21st centuries is explored in the virtual space of the exhibition. The exhibition is open on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Registration is available at titkarsag@lib.elte.hu or by calling +36 30 202 3382 or +36 1 411 6738. All visitors are welcome!
Photo, audio and video recordings will be made of the events. The recordings will be published on the websites, publications, forums and social media of the participating institutions.
Due to the Cultural Heritage Day, the library services of the ELTE University Library and Archives will be inaccessible on Saturday, on the 20th of September 2025. Everyone is welcome to join our programmes starting at 10.00.
For more information, please, visit our homepage or the official website of Cultural Heritage Days. All visitors are welcome!
On the occasion of Cultural Heritage Days, harpist Klára Bábel will give a concert with cellist Árpád Amirás on September 20, 2025, at 4 p.m. at the ELTE University Library and Archives. The concert will feature works by Boccherini, Leoncavallo, Charpentier, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Paganini.
Klára Bábel began her musical studies with the piano, and at the age of 12 she was accepted to the preparatory course at the Liszt Academy of Music. In 2007 she was admitted to the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Brussels, and in 2008 she was awarded a special prize at the 4th Vera Dulova Harp Competition in Moscow. In 2010 she was awarded the Artisjus Prize, in 2010, 2011 and 2013 she was also awarded the Annie Fischer Scholarship for Musical Performing Arts. In 2009 she won a trial with the MÁV Symphony Orchestra and in 2010 with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, she completed her doctoral studies at the Liszt Academy of Music and began her Master of Arts in Music Instruction at ELTE. She has participated in several master classes in Paris, Moscow and Nice. She regularly performs solo and chamber concerts in Hungary. In 2004 she gave a recital at Christie's auction house in London and in 2011 at the National Music University of Bucharest. Since 2013, she has been working with the Slovakian Quasars Ensemble in Bratislava and Kassa. In 2015 they won 1st prize in the chamber music category at the VII International Marcel Tournier Harp Competition with László Zalán Kovács, tuba player, and were finalists at the Concorso Internazionale di Musica Marco Fiorindo International Chamber Music Competition. In 2017, on the Festival Bach for All she was awarded the Festival Prize. Since 2011 she has been artistic director of the Sounds of Babel concerts. The concerts not only introduce the audience to solo harp literature, but also to the world of jazz, where the audience can hear a truly colourful repertoire in collaboration with outstanding artists.
Amirás Árpád was born in Budapest, where he also completed his musical studies. He was a student of Miklós Perényi at the Academy of Music, and later played in the Radio Orchestra alongside his high school teacher, Zsolt Puskás. He has been the Radio Orchestra's principal cellist since 2019. In addition, he has played in chamber orchestras for many years. He is a regular performer in both the domestic and international music scene.
Venue: ELTE University Library and Archives, 1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 6, Reading Hall
Date: September 20, 2025, 16:00–17:00 a.m.
For more information, please, visit our homepage or the official website of Cultural Heritage Days. All visitors are welcome!
This year's program series begins at 10:00 a.m. with a performance by the ELTE Eötvös Art Ensemble folk dance group. Our chamber exhibition, opening on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, presents the documents and careers of three outstanding scholars, Ferenc Toldy, Sándor Szilágyi, and Loránd Eötvös, who played an important role in the history of the University, the University Library, and the Academy. As part of our series of events, harpist Klára Bábel and cellist Árpád Amirás will give a concert for music lovers. Under the title Architecture on the Silver Screen, you can gain insight into the hidden secrets of walls through the films and discussions of Kossuth and Béla Balázs award-winning film director György Szomjas. On the occasion of the Jókai Memorial Year, our event will be enriched with a Jókai quiz, puzzles and bookmark coloring. You can find the detailed program here and on the official website of Cultural Heritage Days. All visitors are welcome!
Photo, audio and video recordings will be made of the events. The recordings will be published on the websites, publications, forums and social media of the participating institutions.
The ELTE–NFI University Film Club continues the series of screenings and discussions. We welcome university citizens from all faculties of ELTE.
In January 1914, a travel basket washed ashore on the icy Danube, containing the body of a strangled woman... The police set to work with 120 detectives to identify the murdered woman. The corpse was that of Elza Mágnás, a famous and notorious courtesan of Pest. Who killed Elza and why? For months before World War I, this question kept Budapest in a fever, and even 100 years later, it still preoccupies the public. The film, which recounts the last days of Elza Mágnás, lifts the veil on this mystery.
The film, with its unique visual style, focuses on three women: Elza Mágnás, who lives a semi-public life, her bigoted maid, Rózsi, and the young and naive servant girl, Kató. The bizarre, passionate relationships and slippery power games between them are further complicated by the men who appear around Elza, leading to a shocking denouement. In 2016, the film won the Hungarian Film Awards for Best TV Movie, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Cinematographer.
Date: 24 September 2025, 18:00
Venue: University Square campus (1053 Budapest, Egyetem tér 1-3. fszt., corridor next to the cloakroom)
Starring: Patrícia Kovács, Dorka Gryllus, Laura Döbrösi, János Kulka.
Our guests in the post-screening discussion:
Attila Szász, Béla Balázs Award-winning Hungarian television and film director, screenwriter, producer, director of the film, and Zsolt Viktor Maróti, history teacher, author and columnist for Újkor.hu. Among other things, he deals with the criminalistic characteristics of Budapest, which became a world city at the turn of the century.
Attila Szász Zsolt Maróti
Due to limited seating, please register in advance here:
On the occasion of Researchers' Night, on September 26, 2025 (Friday) at 6 p.m., Dr. Zsolt Győző Török will hold a special book launch for his volume Kogutowicz – Atlas from Palmy Days of Peace, published in June, in the Boardroom of the ELTE University Library and Archives.
In the palmy days of peace at the beginning of the 20th century, maps were synonymous with the name „Kogutowicz” in school geography and history lessons and in middle-class homes. In this book, through the biography of Manó Kogutowicz, founder of the Hungarian Geographical Institute, and his impressive maps, we can gain insight into the exciting history of cartography and discover the palmy days of Hungarian civilian map publishing.
How did a former Austrian military officer of Galician descent, born in Moravia, become a romantic elopement facilitator, then a teacher in Sopron, and finally a Hungarian cartographer in Budapest?
In this novel-like volume, the author brings the spirit of the legendary cartographer to life based on decades of research. Manó Kogutowicz then speaks for himself: he tells stories about his life, talks to the writer about maps, and even spices up the interesting and instructive stories with his own unique, wry humorous comments.
Moderator: Dr. Krisztina Oláh, cartographer
Date: September 26, 2025 (Friday) 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Venue: ELTE University Library and Archives, 2nd floor Boardroom
We cordially invite all visitors to attend this special writer-reader meeting organized as a roundtable discussion!
The volume was published by ELTE Eötvös Publishing House with the support of the National Cultural Fund as part of the Book Publishing College's book support program, code number 203137.
We would like to inform our readers that the library will be closed from July 28 to August 31, 2025.
From July 3, 2025, all borrowed items will have a due date in September. Important: If the due date of a loan falls before July 28, 2025, the closure period will be included when calculating overdue fines.
Between July 28 and approximately August 24, 2025, our library system will be undergoing maintenance. During this period, reader services will be unavailable. You can find more details here.
You can still return library materials during the summer closure: on working days between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM at the front desk with the assistance of our staff. Important: Returns will be registered in the system only after the maintenance period, but will be dated back to the actual return date. Any overdue fines can only be settled after this period.
The library will reopen with its regular schedule on September 1, 2025.
We wish all our readers a pleasant summer and a restful break!
