To be housed in museum
Special muzzle-loading rifle arrives in Hungary aboard HDF aircraft
Text: defence.hu | 12:29 February 13, 2026On 8 February, the last piece of the Élthes-collection gifted to the Museum of Ethnography – a muzzle-loading rifle manufactured in Belgium in 1870 – arrived in Hungary aboard the Falcon 7X aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The special weapon was donated to institution by the widow of Fencing Master Dr. Csaba Élthes, who had graduated as a lawyer, served in World War II as a lieutenant of the Royal Hungarian Defence Forces, and managed the national fencing team of the USA successfully throughout four Olympics.
The staff of the Museum of Ethnography is soon going to receive the rarity that was produced in C. Dandoy’s firearms manufactory of Liége more than 150 years ago. At the time of the American Civil War, significant batches of this type were ordered from Belgium.
Because no civilian companies undertook the international transport of the weapon, the director general of the Museum of Ethnography requested Hungary’s embassy in Washington D.C. to assist with returning home the rifle stored in the Liszt Institute, New York.
Dr. Csaba Élthes left Hungary in 1956 and later settled in the United States. In her last will, his second wife, the late Maria Lotti Elthes donated the North American Indian collection of her husband, who died in 1995, to the Museum of Ethnography, Budapest.
Presumably, the most valuable items of the 64-piece collection are the Plains Indian objects originating from the last decades of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century: pipe bag adorned with beadwork and quillwork; moccasin; necklace adorned with eagle claws; painted rawhide bag; shield; leather shirt, which were taken to the Hungarian Cultural Center with the assistance of the staff of Liszt Institute, New York. From there, they were transported to Budapest in December 2023 – except for the muzzle-loading rifle.
Finally, the firearm has now arrived in Hungary with the support of the HDF Defence Staff. On 4 February, General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, Chief of HDF Defence Staff travelled to the United States for a four-day official visit aboard the No. 607 Falcon 7X aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces. According to his program schedule, he went to Washington, and then to Columbus and Springfield. However, he has not been to New York, so the Hungarian attaché’s office in Washington D.C. took over the rifle from the Liszt Institute of the city. In possession of all necessary diplomatic permits and transport licenses, on 5 February the packaged weapon was loaded into the aircraft transporting the Chief of Defence, which landed in Kecskemét, Hungary on 8 February.
For the first time, the now complete Élthes-collection will be on view for interested visitors in the Museum of Ethnography.
