Székesfehérvár, Hungary

Fekete Sas Patikamúzeum (Black Eagle Pharmacy Museum)

300 years of pharmaceutical history on display.

The very first pharmacist in Székesfehérvár took up residence at this very spot at the Fekete Sas (Black Eagle Pharmacy) in 1688, following Hungary’s liberation from the Turkish Empire. In the following centuries the pharmacy changed hands numerous times. After each new owner, equipment and a collection of medicines were left behind, and became more valuable over time.

Black Eagle is the oldest pharmacy in Székesfehérvár, and remained a functioning pharmacy for 300 years. In December of 1745, when the widow of the last pharmacist died, the new owners, the Jesuits, purchased the pharmacy for 1,200 Forints. The Hungarian, Slovenian and German speaking pharmacist, Jakab Meschner named the pharmacy the Black Eagle in 1746. A wealthy patron commissioned a well-known woodworker to decorate it in a baroque style.

The Fekete Sas was owned by the Jesuits until it was sold at auction in 1774, and from then until it closed in 1971, the pharmacy was handed off between friends and family. The shop inherited bits and pieces of history from each of its many owners, as well as numerous items which are now on display in the museum.

After it closed, it was renovated, the equipment refurbished, the wood polished, the medicine bottles set out on display. Two years later, it opened to the public.