Monday, 3rd June 2019 at 18.00
The expansion of Deáki church – a generational change in Hungarian monument protection
presenter: Lilla Farbakyné Deklava – art historian
The medieval church of Deáki, which belongs to Pannonhalma Abbey, has been studied extensively in the framework of medieval studies, but its 19th century aspects had not been explored until now. By the 1860s, the church could no longer accommodate its increased congregation. Several solutions were proposed to the problem, all of which indicate the arrival of a new era in institutionalized monument protection. The first designs were made by Ferenc Schulcz, then Ferenc Storno was selected for the job, but in the end Frigyes Schulek’s design was implemented. His was a well-thought-out, logical concept with the least amount of damage to the original construct, however, the implementation was not as successful as one would have hoped. It was carried in 1873-1875 by local and other third-rate contractors. The westward expansion of the building itself is unremarkable, but the modification allowed for the preservation of most of the original medieval building, only destroying its western facade.