BRICKS FROM THE PAST

The history of the shown bricks dates back to the 1700’s, to the ages of the rebuilding at the end of the Ottoman Hungary. Statistics say, that in 107 settlements of Fejér County there were 145 brick-furnaces to find (17 of them in Székesfehérvár). Those different furnaces were owned by aristocrats, by the town or by the church (Fransiscan, Carmelite). Some brick-makers marked their bricks with their monograms or with own illustrations. On the bricks of Székesfehérvár for example, thanks to the German colonists there were the initials “S W” (Stuhl Weissenburg) to see for about hundred years. These marks are very helpful to the archaeologists by determining the age of a building or a wall. 

The organiser of this exhibition, Dr. Gyula Siklósi C.S.C has collected the bricks of Fejér County for a long time. A lot of private collectors have also helped him. He ordered the bricks by monograms, letterings, illustrations, historical data, maps and property history. The outstanding 800-piece-collection of the St. Stephen Museum embraces almost every settlement of Fejér County.