Bela Löffler Museum

On the south side of Erzsébet Street, opposite the western main entrance of the Košice Cathedral, on the street front, in a closed row of buildings, a one-story, gable-roofed building with an eclectic facade created by the reconstruction of an earlier house, one of the city's youngest public collections operates. ; One of the most significant sculptors of Košice in the last century, Béla Löffler, was born in 1906. He traveled to Greece, Italy, France, and later studied in Budapest and Prague. But he returned to Košice and continued his work here. His first exhibition was in 1937 in the Košice Museum. The Rákóczi relief on the wall of the Košice Cathedral is his work. But we can find his public sculptures and reliefs all over Eastern Slovakia. ; Since he had no successor, he designated the city as his heir, but with the wish that a Löffler Museum would be established from the legacy, whose mission would also be to support young artists. This finally became a reality in 1993, after the artist's death in 1990. Löffler left a collection worth several million crowns to the city, which served as the basis for the museum - or rather gallery. The collection naturally includes his own works, as well as paintings and self-portraits by artists working in the region. Béla Löffler's multilingual library also became part of the gallery. He was a European-minded man. He maintained constant contact with local artists, as well as Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, and Romanians. He respected European values and lived in accordance with them. Löffler very actively supported young artists who worked in this region. Many people studied and worked with him for months and years. But he did not only support his students. He encouraged many to paint self-portraits, which he then bought from them. There is a painter who painted three or four self-portraits for Löffler for a few hundred crowns. These paintings formed the independent portrait collection. The permanent exhibition presenting Béla Löffler's works made of wood, bronze, marble, stone and various other materials can be seen in the rooms on the first floor of the Museum. The aforementioned self-portrait collection was also housed here. On the ground floor, works by contemporary artists can be seen. The museum also regularly hosts temporary exhibitions, chamber concerts and book launches.