It probably rings a bell if you hear about the doctor who served in the court of Emperor Joseph II of Habsburg. But who among the readers have ever heard of the origin of the first neon signs in Hungary? Alternatively, just from the top of your head, could you retell the story of the poster that was among the first to become popular nationwide? If you find an hour or so to study at this exhibition the chronicle of the Zwack family (set against the background of European history), you will get answer to those and many more questions.

The recently opened Zwack Unicum Museum and Visitors' Centre is one of its kind as it appeals to all of your five senses. The visitors can see a 25-minute documentary film and a legion of rare objects. They can hear sounds and music that are related to the events; can touch press clippings of old; smell the unmistakable medicinal fragrance of drinks that are distilled nearby, and the fifth sense puts the crown to the end of the tour: they can taste products of the Company. A speciality shop near the museum sells drinks, souvenirs and old posters.

As appetizers, let us mention some of the singular objects on display: the general ledger that covered the "fuel" consumed by horse-drawn carts that carried the bottles; a special postcard dating back to the First World War; manuscripts of poems the famous Hungarian poet Endre Ady wrote to Milytta, Péter Zwack's aunt in early years of the 20th cenutry; a Swedish passport issued by Raoul Wallenberg for Péter Zwack in the 1940s; a newscast from the Hungarian service of the BBC on the day the Allied forces landed in Normandy (6 June 1944); and a speech Péter Zwack delivered in 1956 in Chicago, when he created a foundation to aid Hungarian refugees. The show includes photos about Hungary's transition from Communist rule to multiparty democracy, and step by step the visitor reaches the new millennium, where the immensely popular Unicum drink is winking at nearby galaxies. The story of a drink and a family that spans six generations is inseparable from mainstream history, that of the country called Hungary.

And that is not all. The display also includes a giant collection of 15 000 miniature bottles - the largest in Europe. Credit for a considerable part of the artefacts and the whole of the collection of miniature bottles must go to a retired director of our Company: Emil Gerencsér.

Individual visitors may enter the museum Monday to Friday, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. However, groups of 10 to 40 may pay a visit at other times if they let us know 48 hours in advance. Groups may request guidance in one of three languages. The speciality shop is open Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (from April between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.).

Individual tickets cost HUF 1500 and tickets for group members and pensioners costs HUF 1250 - all include the price of tasting drinks. Student tickets (under 18) costs HUF 850 but they do not include the tasting of drinks (in view of those visitors' young age).

Disabled access is ensured in compliance with European Union standards.