EN
This paper examines the formation and the mission of the State Cultural Estate in Betliar (a complex of buildings of historical and cultural value formerly owned by the Andrássy family) as a predecessor of the modern-day Slovak National Museum in Betliar. We map the complex network of ownership of individual properties and its transfer to the government, the beginnings of the Estate as a memory institution and the problems associated with its transformation to one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Slovakia it is today.