The collection was amassed over 50 years by the town's parish priest, Lajos Dumovits, who also offered it a home in the house where he was born. The collection contains some 2,500 books and 250 artefacts. The most valuable item in the collection is a book on remedial herbs in both Latin and Croatian from 1543.
Speaking at the inauguration of the collection, minister without portfolio in charge of the Prime Minister's Office Péter Kiss praised the ethnic Croatians in the region - who call themselves the "Gradistye" - for preserving their culture and their language. He added that the government would submit a draft decision backing Croatia's European Union accession in September. Also in September, the two countries will hold a joint cabinet meeting, in the Hungarian city of Pécs.
Kiss presented Dumovits with the Golden Order of the Hungarian Republic on behalf of President László Sólyom at the end of the inauguration.
