A plaque on the Town Hall commemorates a 200-year-old cultural debate. Some 19th century Hungarian thinkers decided to reform the Hungarian language, adding new words and expressions. However, its reception from the Hungarian intelligentsia was divided and the initiative provoked great controversy. Those opposing language reforms therefore wrote a document, titled Mondolat, satirizing the excesses of language reform. Mondolat was printed in Veszprém during this period, in 1813. This makes Mondolat an indelible part of Veszprém’s history. The city’s first printing press – the Streibig printing house – was likely established here in 1789, in the basement facing Ányos Street, on the site of the current City Hall. This plaque commemorates that era.
The Mondolat commemorative plaque, created through community funding by Munkácsy Prize-winning sculptor Attila Diénes, was installed on the corner of Building B of the City Hall in 2013, on the 200th anniversary of Mondolat.
The figure riding a donkey on the plaque is the title page of Mondolat: it is a caricature of Ferenc Kazinczy, the pioneer of Hungarian language reform.
