Herman Ottó Memorial House (Pele-lak)

Ottó Herman was Hungary's last great polymath. Although he was born in Breznóbánya, he always considered Alsóhámor his home and even claimed it as his birthplace. “He identifies so strongly as Hungarian that he breaks with family traditions, even choosing his birthplace to fully assimilate into Hungarian culture.” (Kálmán Lambrecht)
While he didn’t spend his entire life here, he frequently returned to Miskolc, Lillafüred, and even visited Avas. In the last two decades of his life, he spent a lot of time at the foot of the Bükk Mountains, spending most of his summers in Lillafüred from 1903 onwards. His love for nature was evident from childhood, as he roamed the hills and valleys of the Bükk, observing the forest's inhabitants and birds. These childhood explorations laid the foundation for his scientific work. He established the Hungarian foundations for several scientific fields, and his writings remain seminal works in ornithology, zoology (spiders, fish, insects), ethnography, and archaeology. Beyond this, he was passionate about animal welfare, wrote travelogues, and even dabbled in politics, serving as Miskolc's parliamentary representative from 1893 to 1896.
In the Hanging Gardens of Lillafüred, there is a charming statue of him holding birds in his hands. In Miskolc, a museum, schools, and a street bear his name.

The exhibition, renovated in 2022, is titled A Visit to Ottó Herman. It tells the story of the everyday life in the Pele House, used as a summer retreat by the scientist and his wife, Kamilla Borosnyay, through a fictional narrative framework, including the story of how the couple met. Visitors are welcomed by an exhibition that recreates the polymath’s former summer retreat with splendid settings and original artefacts, allowing those who visit the memorial house to truly feel like a guest of Ottó Herman.