The Hungarian National Museum was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is separate to the collection of international art in the Hungarian National Gallery. The museum is in Budapest VIII in a Neoclassical building, purpose-built during 1837–47 by the architect Mihály Pollack.

Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and it was the largest city on the Danube river; today it is the second largest one. The city has an estimated population of 1,752,286 over a land area of about 525 square kilometres. Budapest, which is both a city and municipality, forms the centre of the Budapest metropolitan area, which has an area of 7,626 square kilometres and a population of 3,303,786. It is a primate city, constituting 33% of the population of Hungary.