Buda Castle Buda Castle, Budapest
Visit the Museum of Telephones in the Castle District in Budapest to take a time travel into the weighty devices of telecommunications, which now seem like steam punk: central battery phones, coin operated phone stations, local battery devices with beautiful finishes make the retro tech museum a hidden gem on the Buda Castle Hill.
Museum of Telephones in Budapest- Permanently Closed since 2018
The museum is conveniently located just a couple of minutes’ walk from the building of the Buda Castle in an area offering beautiful vista over the river Danube and Budapest.
History of the Museum of Telephones
The Museum of Telephones is a true specialty museum, which opened its gates in 1991.
In the age of mobile phones, the Museum of Telephones in Budapest, and its fascinating collection allows everyone to take a huge step back in time, and touch and feel the old devices through hands on / interactive exhibits.
Should you be interested in wired telephone networks, switchboards, switching systems, historical but working telephones (including hand cranked magneto phones), schematics, the Museum of Telephones, this small but beautifully equipped museum, is a must see.
Lots of history here and not only related to the 120 years of Hungarian telephony but to the greater universe of telephones, including the first ever “telephone” constructed and patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.
Amongst the quite unique exhibits, there are some telephones that belonged to Franz Joseph I Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, King Charles IV and other sovereigns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
With permanent and temporary exhibitions, such as the „Talk time just 3 minutes…” assets, devices and documents are all brought together related to public and private telephony in the Museum of Telephony.
Opening hours:
Mondays: Closed
Tuesday: 10am – 4pm
Wednesday: 10am – 4pm
Thursday: 10am – 4pm
Friday: 10am – 4pm
Saturday: 10am – 4pm
Sunday: 10am – 4pm
Closed on some holidays (23-26 Dec, 30 Dec, 1 Jan)
Please time your arrival before 3 pm to have ample time to savour the exhibits. Cashier closes at
Tickets:
Adult: 500 HUF
Student / pensioner: 250 HUF
Discounts for families and group
Address: 49 Uri street, Budapest, District I, 1014
I would like to know when phones at home became widespread in Haungary. My guess would be the 1960s.?
Thank you
Dear David,
thank you for your inquiry.
Yes, phones at home became popular in the 1960’s. In 1961 there were 670 thousand subscribers, while in the middle of the ’70s it was already around 1 million. For more information, we would recommend to contact the museum directly, I am sure that they can provide you much more information in this matter.