The museum was established in 1899 under the name of Borsod-Miskolcz Museum. It was funded by the Borsod-Miskolcz Museum and Cultural Association until 1914, then by Borsod County and the City of Miskolc until its collectivisation in 1949. The institution renamed itself after the polymath Ottó Herman in 1953. It became the centre of the museum organization in 1963 and from then it extended its field of collecting to the entirety of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County.
There are nearly half a million uniquely inventoried items in the Herman Ottó Museum’s depositories. The archaeological collection is the largest one, which includes such major units as the first material remains of the Palaeolithic age, findings from the Bükk and Bodrogkeresztúr cultures of the Neolithic age and representative works of art from the Migration and Hungarian conquest periods. The museum’s Department of Mineralogy houses the most comprehensive collection of rocks and minerals from the Carpathian Basin. The fine arts collection’s significance – apart from the abundance of works of art – is showcased by having pieces from every major Hungarian artist with which Hungarian painting can be presented in its entirety, from Mányoki to Moholy Nagy. The historical collection consists of rich applied arts memorabilia in addition to an archive consisting of nearly half a million pages, with documents from the 14th century to the present. The internationally acclaimed folk art material of the Matyó and Palóc ethnicities are part of the ethnographic collection. One of the largest numismatics and phaleristics collections outside of the capitol can be found in the Herman Ottó Museum.
The Herman Ottó Museum was elevated to the status of scientific research facility by the Ministry of Culture in 1985. The results of research conducted by the about 40-person scientific professional staff and researchers related to the museum are published by multiple regularly circulated periodicals. The regular growth of the museum’s nearly 200,000 volume library is ensured via planned purchases and exchanges. The heritages of academics Béla Gunda and Imre Wellmann can also be found within the library.
In 1999, the Herman Ottó Museum was declared Hungarian Museum of the Year; and the municipality of Miskolc rewarded the institution with the Pro Urbe award for its varied and high-quality professional activity. From 1997, the public collection is also the home of the University of Miskolc’s Department of Education History and Museology.