A century-old adventure brought to life – Unicum House celebrates its 20th anniversary this year

Where the walls can tell stories

A grand family history full of adventures and challenges, the birth of an iconic brand, a secret drink recipe that is passed down from generation to generation. The legend of the birth of Unicum dates back several centuries – the first chapter starts from today’s Erzsébet Square, the former Kemnitzer House, where József Zwack, the company’s founder, began production in 1840. The factory then moved to Két Szerecsen Street, then to Üllői Street, until finally finding its permanent location on Soroksári Street. It can still be found here today, together with the Unicum House, where – as the only factory building in Budapest still in operation – it plays a special, valuable role in terms of city history.

The adversities of World War II, including the bomb hits in 1944, the soldiers who decimated the cellar’s ​​supplies, and the barrels brought up for the purpose of building a pontoon bridge, have now become part of Zwack’s history as adventurous episodes. The glorious new beginning is a recurring motif that the museum also revives: for example, the reconstruction of the war-torn factory or the triumphant return of Péter Zwack from America in the late 1980s. At that time, the famous Zwack heir bought back the factory that had once belonged to his family and was then nationalized.

“The Unicum House preserves many stories worthy of novels, and also tells stories of eternal values, including tradition and quality, spanning across eras. As the center of the family and Unicum history, it has been continuously developing since its establishment, so that – just like the secret recipe – it is also accessible to new generations”

– says Gábor Dávid Kovács, Marketing Director of Zwack Unicum Nyrt.

In the early 2000s, the building on Soroksári Street was renovated, paying special attention to preserving the original elements, including the towers destroyed in World War II. The institution, which presents the history of the family and Unicum, opened its doors in 2005 as the Zwack Museum and Visitor Center, and became known as the Unicum House in 2018.

As a stop on a hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus route, the location became a key player in Budapest’s tourist circulation in 2014. In 2015, the treasure trove of Unicum relics, the Unicum sample store, was renovated, followed a year later by the event space, the Füves Bár, which showcases the company’s medicinal and spice expertise and heritage, and whose stylish, modern, industrial, yet family-friendly interior was recognized with the Bronze Award at the 2017 Gastro Design Awards.