15,000 forint – 200th anniversary of the writing of the poem Hymn

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank will issue a silver collector coin with a face value of 15,000 forints named ‘Himnusz’ and its non-ferrous metal version of 3,000 forints to mark the 200th anniversary of the writing of the poem which our national anthem was based on. Designed by sculptor Tamás E. Soltra, this collector coin will be the first piece of the Bank's collector coin issuance programme this year. The official issuance ceremony will take place at the Petőfi Literary Museum. The poem, which became the national anthem of Hungary, was written by Ferenc Kölcsey at the dawn of the national revival in 1823, in the solitude of his home in Szatmárcseke. The original title was ‘Hymnus, a’ Magyar nép zivataros századaiból’ (From the stormy centuries of the Hungarian nation) (in short: Himnusz after applying today’s spelling rules). The poem was first published in 1829 in Károly Kisfaludy's periodical, Aurora under the title Hymnus, and three years later in Ferenc Kölcsey's first volume, bearing the full subtitle, which more closely conveys the poem's message. With this greatest masterpiece of his patriotic poetry, Ferenc Kölcsey paved the way for national romanticism in the development of Hungarian lyric poetry instead of following the stylistic conventions of classicism. The music for the Hymnus was created by composer and conductor Ferenc Erkel in 1844, following a competition for setting the poem to music. The winning composition was presented for the first time at the National Theatre in Pest the same year. The Hungarian national anthem became legally protected in 1989, when the Constitution of 1989 added it to the list of our national symbols, and since then we have celebrated the Day of the Hungarian Culture on 22 January, to honour the completion of the manuscript of the anthem that day. Article 1 in the Foundation of the Fundamental Law, which entered into force on 1 January 2012, stipulates: ‘The national anthem of Hungary shall be the poem Himnusz by Ferenc Kölcsey, set to music by Ferenc Erkel.’