Our journey won't be towards the TV screen and it certainly won't be about watching an action series. It will be about the stops that in Kežmarok connect as imaginary beams of light the places connected with the name of Dr. Vojtech Alexander. The X-rays, that is, the rays whose use for medical discoveries was understood very early by Dr Vojtech (Béla) Alexander - a native of Kežmarok and founder of the Institute of Roentgenology in Budapest - were of great importance in the development of imaging and diagnostics. Dr. Alexander became an important expert in radiology in Hungary. So let's take a look at the places that will remind us of him:
1. beam
We will start our walk in the centre of Kežmarok on Dr. Alexander Street near the house No. 37, where the office of the famous Kežmarok doctor, who was highly respected by the medical elite of Hungary, was located. On the facade of the house there is a memorial plaque to the doctor, who helped the rich townspeople and the poor with equal willingness.
2nd beam
Let's cross the road on Garbiarska Street and in front of us we will see the building of the Secondary Vocational School - a former weaving school. Its headmaster Jozef Tschörner helped Dr. Alexander to improve the then still imperfect X-ray machine. The poplars towering on the sides of the park in front of the school towards the dormitory resemble a dried-up arm of the Poprad River. Dr. Vojtech Alexander - the founder of the Kežmarok
of the Beautification Society.
3rd ray
Next, head to the North housing estate and follow the road leading to the amphitheatre. We cannot get lost, because we are walking along the nature trail of the Forest Park SEVER (signs 1 - 5). Old Kežmar residents say that it was here, on the horizon of the hill, that the members of the Kežmar Beautification Society planted a pine avenue, which ends at board 6 with a panorama of the High Tatras. The nature trail will provide especially children with interesting information about the flora and fauna in the surroundings of Kežmarok.
4th ray
From the walk we will return to the SEVER housing estate and head to Kežmarok Castle. Here we will see the X-ray machine from 1897, which Dr. Alexander actually used, and also his first ever plastic X-ray image. You will learn about the consequences of scientific experiments in his family. The unique exhibit can be found in one of the expositions of Kežmarok Castle, which is open all year round.
5th ray
Finally, we will move to the Lyceum building (next to the wooden Evangelical church on Hviezdoslavova Street), where the bust of Dr. Alexander is placed - to be among those who will remember the face of the famous Hungarian doctor and the founder of radiology in Hungary.
Cover photo: OOCR Tatry-Spiš-Pieniny
