House of Terror

The House of Terror is a museum on Andrássy út that documents the two dictatorships that ruled Hungary in the 20th century. It occupies the building used in 1944 by the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian fascist party, and afterwards by the communist State Protection Authority (ÁVH) as its headquarters. Many people were held, interrogated and tortured here. The museum opened in 2002 and serves both as an exhibition and as a memorial to the victims.

The exhibition takes you through the building floor by floor, using film, sound, documents and staged rooms to explain Hungary's relationships with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, life under occupation and dictatorship, deportations, show trials and the 1956 revolution. The facade, with its projecting black frame carrying the word Terror, makes the building easy to spot on the avenue. The visit ends in the basement, where reconstructed cells show the conditions in which prisoners were held, and this is one of the most affecting parts of the museum.

The presentation is intense and dramatic rather than neutral, and historians have debated how the museum portrays Hungarians' own role in the two regimes. In September 2026 the new government briefly closed the museum and announced an expert review of its exhibition. It reopened on 22 September with the permanent exhibition unchanged while the review continues, so it is worth checking the official website for any changes before you visit.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and closed on Mondays; the cash desk closes at 17:30. Allow around two hours. The exhibition is dense with documents and film, so reading and watching as you go takes time. The content is not suitable for young children, and teenagers will get more from it with some background reading about Hungary in the 20th century.

The museum is on the stretch of Andrássy út between Oktogon and Kodály körönd. Vörösmarty utca station on metro line M1 is right outside, and Oktogon, with trams 4 and 6, is a few minutes south. Combine it with the Opera House further down the avenue or continue north to Heroes' Square.