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Pharmacy Museum

Sopron, Fő tér 2.

The first Hungarian "monument protection" is related to this house. During the reign of King Lajos II, the City Council wanted to destroy the building in order to enlarge the square, but the King denied his approval, claiming that the demolition of the house would disrupt the architectural unity of the Main Square. The former Angel Apothecary operated in the house from the middle of the 17th century, and was the home of a number of families of chemists and doctors. The most famous inhabitant of the building was Ádám Gensel (1677-1720), doctor and meteorologist, who detected the influence of weather fronts on the human body.

The house had arcades until its reconstruction in 1850, when the Gensel family extended the house by bricking up the arcades and the corridor. Since the renovation of 1966-67, the building has been the Pharmacy museum. The exhibition takes the form of an old chemist’s shop, with an original counter, cabinets, and beautiful dishes from the beginning of the 19th century. There are especially beautiful Altwien-style china gallipots with their angel-head decoration and phials with alchemist-markings. Another curiosity is a midwife's certificate signed by Ignác Semmelweis. Besides relics of traditional medicine and pharmacy, there are items based on superstitions, such as amulets to fight the evil eye, or a hat against child epilepsy. The valuable collection of books covers medical and healing sciences, e.g. Paracelsus’ Colligatum from 1572, and Agricola-Poppius:’Observationes from 1638.