Gödöllő Castle

The facade of the central building facing the city, behind the large arched windows is the ballroom

View from the Upper Garden to the west facade of the palace

The Gödöllő Castle (also Grassalkovich Castle or, rarely in German, Getterle Castle ) is located about 25 kilometers northeast of the Hungarian capital Budapest in the city of Gödöllő . It was built in the 18th century for Count Antal Grassalkovich I and is also known by his name. In the second half of the 19th century it was the preferred residence of the Austrian Empress and Hungarian Queen Elisabeth ("Sisi") . After World War IIthe castle was severely neglected under the socialist government of Hungary and threatened to deteriorate. It has been restored in stages since 1996 and has been open to visitors ever since.

In terms of the built-up area, the castle is the largest baroque palace in Hungary.

History of the castle

History of the palace complex

Gödöllő was first mentioned in the 14th century, but the place had not played a significant role in the history of the country until it was acquired by Antal Grassalkovich I. Until the 18th century, Gödöllő was a small, insignificant farming settlement in a valley bordered by low hills. The lands belonged to different landlords, the ownership structure changed several times, also interrupted by the Ottoman rule over Hungary. The core of the village was formed by a modest manor house and a small church, on which the later castle was built.

The era of the Grassalkovichs

The owner of the castle, Antal Grassalkovich I, on an 18th century painting

After the Ottomans were driven out , a new aristocracy emerged in Hungary from the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century. One of the most important representatives of his class and his time was Antal Grassalkovich I , who made it from the lower Croatian landed gentry to the Viennese court and was one of Maria Theresa's confidants there .

Grassalkovich bought the Gödöllő lands from their previous owners between 1723 and 1748 and began building the castle and a large-scale farm in 1735. The castle was built as a three-wing structure, which still surrounds the inner courtyard, within ten years until 1745 and then expanded from 1746 to 1749 and again from 1752 to 1759.

Antal Grassalkovich received the title of baron in 1732 and was raised to the rank of count by the empress in 1743. The building of the castle was therefore not only a sign of the wealth he had acquired himself, but was also intended to reflect his political position. Maria Theresa and the Count were on friendly terms, and the Empress was given a suite of rooms in the castle, which she lived in for a short time in 1751.

The count died in 1771 and left the property to his only son, Antal Grassalkovich II , who was raised to the rank of prince in 1784. However, he had no great interest in the remote country estate and preferred to reside in Vienna and Pressburg , the then Hungarian capital. Although he had some modifications made to Gödöllő, the castle was mostly managed by a castellan during this time . From 1789 onwards he had the Grassalkovics Palace built in Vienna. The son lacked the economic skills of his father, and the once rich property was increasingly burdened with debts, which in 1794 to Antal Grassalkovich III. passed over. The young prince increased the mountain of debts and the Gödöllő lands were placed under compulsory administration from 1796. Antal Grassalkovich III did not hold out until the 1820s. more often in Gödöllő, which he had hardly used before. At that time he had the old baroque garden transformed into a landscape park and he often received the reformer István Széchenyi here .

The prince died in 1841 without a male heir, as a result of which the Grassalkovichs died out in the male line; his widow, the last Princess Grassalkovich, was buried on December 27, 1864 in Gödöllö. The castle, which is still under administration, went to a female line of the Viczay family. In 1849 the facility served the Hungarian revolutionary fighter Lajos Kossuth and his troops for a short time as a base. In 1850/1851 the property was sold to the banker Georg Simon von Sina , after whose death the property was transferred to a Belgian bank in 1864.

The castle as the residence of the Hungarian royal family

The royal family in front of the castle, engraving from 1869

In 1866 the castle served as a hospital for wounded soldiers of the German War . During this time, the Austrian Empress Elisabeth visited the castle for the first time and expressed the wish to purchase it, which, however, was not approved by the Emperor due to the cost of the war.

1867 was the year of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise , with which the Habsburgs were confirmed on the Hungarian royal throne. On March 15 of that year the government swore its oath of allegiance to Franz Joseph I and on June 8 of that year the coronation took place in Buda . The old Grassalkovich's castle, in which the queen showed interest the year before, was acquired by the Hungarian state and given to the king and his wife as a coronation gift. On the occasion of the coronation, the castle was restored and rebuilt and the park reforested. The then newly planned railway line was led past the castle and a separate waiting room was set up for the royal family.

The palace became one of the favorite places to stay for Queen Elisabeth, who hated the strict imperial court at Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace and the Hofburg . In Gödöllő, apart from protocol and court ceremonies, she was able to lead a freer life than in the Austrian capital. Until her death in 1898, she spent more than 2000 days here, mainly in spring and autumn. The place experienced an economic boom due to the regular visits of the royal family and Gödöllő became a popular summer resort for the Budapest upper class at the end of the 19th century .

After the murder of Elisabeth, Franz Josef visited the palace less and less, most recently in 1911. His successor Karl I stayed in Gödöllő only for a short time, his last stay took place in October 1918 and the events of the lost First World War made one Return impossible.

The castle in the 20th century

From 1918 the castle was under the administration of the Hungarian Ministry of Finance. As a result of the political changes, the Hungarian Soviet Republic came to power for a short time from 1919 , under which the castle was looted and converted into an orphanage.

After the collapse of the Soviet republic, Miklós Horthy was appointed as the so-called imperial administrator from 1920 , who administered Hungary, which was now a kingship. In his capacity as the king's deputy, he received the right to use the castle of Gödöllő and moved into the former rooms of Franz Joseph, his wife was given Queen Elisabeth's suite. The interior of the castle was redesigned for this purpose and received new furniture. Horthy used Gödöllő for representative purposes and received important members of society of his time, such as Victor Emanuel III. of Italy or the later British King Edward VIII.

During the Second World War , the castle was hit by a bomb, but otherwise remained undamaged. From December 1944 troops of the German Wehrmacht occupied the castle, which were driven out by the Red Army shortly afterwards . In the following years the building was looted and then used for military purposes. The north wing was occupied by units of the Hungarian army, the south wing by Soviet soldiers. From 1958 the now heavily neglected castle was converted into a retirement home. Simple iron beds were placed in the royal salons, and the ballroom was degraded to a television and lounge. The balconies of the courtyard and the passage through the central projectile served as a coal bunker, a laundry was set up in the orangery and apartments were installed in the south wing. Although the building was listed as a historical monument in 1951, the building fabric was not secured and the castle began to deteriorate. From 1981 the first plans for a redevelopment were made, which could not be tackled for financial reasons. In 1984 the roof of the riding school wing collapsed.

From 1990 the institutions located in the castle left the house and by 1994 it was completely vacated. In this year a non-profit foundation was set up with the aim of restoring and preserving the castle. A new usage concept for the building was developed and the renovation started in parts. The roof trusses and facades of the main building and the southern wings were renewed, wall paintings were exposed and the stucco repaired. The interior had to be painstakingly reconstructed. In August 1996, the restored central wing was opened to the public.

Concert in October 2017

The castle in the present

The Royal Palace in Gödöllő is visited by more than 200,000 people every year. Since it opened in 1996, it has been one of the most important tourist destinations in the Budapest area. The castle houses a castle museum, in which almost 30 rooms can currently be visited. The focus of the museum was placed on Gödöllő's royal time and the life of Queen Elisabeth. In the lower rooms there are also regularly changing exhibitions. The castle is involved in a large number of cultural events such as concerts and theater performances. Various rooms can be rented privately for festivities or conferences, and a restaurant has been set up.

Nevertheless, the complete renovation of the building has not yet been completed. The northern wings are still in a ruinous condition and the time of a complete restoration cannot be foreseen so far, the same applies to the park. The usage concept developed in the mid-1990s could not be implemented in all points, so the establishment of a hotel was planned in the south wing, but a corresponding rental has not yet taken place.

Buildings

The lock

The castle buildings

The architect Andreas Mayerhoffer from Salzburg was hired as the master builder of the palace, who also designed the Budapest University Church and the Church of the Annunciation in Szentendre .

The buildings around the main courtyard

View of the main courtyard, which is surrounded by the three original wings of the palace. The large stairwell is hidden behind the high arched windows of the central building

Although the castle was already planned as a courtly residence when it was built, the main wing was protected with low bastions facing the city for security reasons , the windows on the ground floor were fitted with bars and the corner pavilions, which had been decorated with mansard roofs since 1785, were originally designed as low towers.

Contrary to the usual structure of baroque palace complexes, in which a courtyard of honor opens up towards the city and the central building wing points directly to the garden, this principle is reversed in Gödöllő. The corps de logis forms the center of the complex here, too, but the courtyard and the side wings surrounding it point into the garden, while the main facade faces the city.

The main wing of the only two-storey complex is formed by the central building, from which the side wings that frame the courtyard extend to the north and south. The central building is cut through in its center by a high, domed risalit , which contains the central ballroom and the main staircase. The domes crowning the building are purely architectural decoration, neither the east-facing ballroom nor the west-facing staircase have a corresponding vault. The domes are repeated in a simplified version over the angles of the corner pavilions of the wing on the garden side. The portal of the castle is designed as a passage into the garden, the entrances to the stairs lead from here to an inner vestibule in front of the ballroom . From the central building one enters the 1000 m² large courtyard, which is bordered by the two side wings. This horseshoe-shaped ensemble of buildings, which was built from 1735 to 1745, forms the origin of the castle and, after it was handed over to the royal couple in 1867, included the living quarters of Franz Joseph (in the north wing) and Elisabeth (in the south wing).

The garden wings

Aerial view of the palace complex. In the center of the picture, the central building towered over by two domes, including the courtyard and the surrounding side wings. The wings with the stables and the theater lead to the left, the chapel wing leads upwards, followed by the old and new orangery wings

Further building blocks lead away at right angles from the king's wings of the court of honor, which take up the basic shape of the castle again, repeat it on a larger scale and to a certain extent enclose a second court of honor in the garden. The buildings date from the second construction phase from 1746 to 1749. The wing leading from the courtyard to the north contains the castle chapel, the southern wing houses the stables . The end points of these wings are accentuated with domed pavilions , which are followed by the long wings facing each other in the outer courtyard. These tracts date from the time of the third expansion from 1752 to 1759. The southern wing accommodated further stables, the riding school and the court theater, the northern wing contained the first orangery in the basement , which was under Antal Grassalkovich III. was replaced by a large marble bathroom and, during the royal period, by officials and guest apartments. As a result of these conversions, a new orangery was added at right angles to the outer north wing and forms the end point of the castle there. These two northern tracts are still in an unrenovated state.

View into the large stairwell of the central risalit

The interior

The representative living rooms and salons of the castle are located on the upper floor, while the ground floor mainly accommodated utility and guest rooms. During the royal period, the castle had 136 living rooms, 67 of which were used to accommodate the servants. In the 19th century, the castle was equipped with every modern convenience; in 1874 it received gas lighting and in 1898 electric light. In addition to the chimneys and stoves, hot air heating was installed.

From the time of the Grassalkovichs, hardly anything of the movable equipment has survived. The furniture from the royal era is also no longer complete and has largely been lost due to looting or lack of maintenance. The castle museum has set itself the task of collecting and exhibiting authentic pieces from the royal era and, if possible, to repurchase earlier furnishings for the collection.

The color scheme and wall hangings of the 26 rooms of the castle museum, which have been reconstructed today and are accessible to visitors, largely correspond to the condition in 1867. The furniture on display, like the stucco decorations, is mainly from the Rococo and Neo-Baroque periods . The most important rooms in the palace include the 166 m² Rococo ballroom in the central project, which is designed in white and gold and the "Maria Theresa Room", which was installed on the occasion of her visit in 1751 and later served as Queen Elisabeth's bedroom. The palace theater, designed for 100 spectators, is one of the oldest preserved theaters in Hungary, although it was destroyed in 1867 by the move in of two false ceilings and was only reconstructed in the course of renovations in 1986. The court church in the north wing of the palace also serves as the parish church of the town of Gödöllő today.

Gödöllő as a model of his time

The Grassalkovich Palace is the seat of the President of Slovakia

After the long Turkish rule over Hungary and the subsequent period of political turmoil in the country, the palace in Gödöllő was one of the first larger, courtly secular buildings. It thus became the model for other Hungarian castles that were built in the so-called "Grassalkovich style". Frequently recurring features are the two-story design with a low basement and a representative bel étage on the upper floor, a protruding, three-axis central projection with a sweeping roof structure, or an alignment of the courtyard towards the park. The following buildings belong to the Grassalkovich castles:

The castle in Hatvan is one of the so-called "Grassalkovich castles"

Nagytétény Castle is located on the south-western outskirts of Budapest and almost exactly copies the courtyard facade of Gödöllő's three-winged main building. The Grassalkovich Palace in Bratislava , under Hungarian administration at the time of construction and also a work by Andreas Mayerhoffers, is based on Gödöllő's designs and appears as a broader variant of the local Corps de Logis, just like the Hatvan Castle or the Ráday Castle in Pécel , to the east from Budapest. The reverse order of the courtyard opening onto the garden can also be found again at Festetics Palace in Keszthely .

The park

Two large garden areas once belonged to the castle; the Lower Garden, which extends in front of the central wing, and the Upper Garden, which follows the courtyard and faces west.

The Upper Garden

The King's Pavilion in the Upper Garden

The west facade of the palace was built under Antal Grassalkovich I in a large, French baroque park that was modeled on it . The garden, which was designed with geometrically structured broderie parterres , was decorated with sculptural groups typical of the time from Greek mythology . It stretched to a length of 440 meters in front of the castle and ended at a wall that encompassed the park. From the plantings of this old baroque garden, which also included a hedge labyrinth , there are hardly any remains today. One of the few relics that are reminiscent of the Baroque design is a chestnut avenue leading to the south wing. The so-called “King's Pavilion”, a hexagonal tea house from 1760, whose interior walls are decorated with portraits of Hungarian princes, has also been preserved.

After the castle and gardens were neglected in the time of Antal Grassalkovich II, Antal Grassalkovich III. at the suggestion of his wife Leopoldina Esterházy, redesign the Upper Garden from 1817 in the style of English landscape gardens . The wall was torn down, the garden was expanded and designed with winding paths and groups of trees. This new park became overgrown in the period of uncertain ownership after the Duke's death.

The Elisabeth monument in the palace gardens

On the occasion of the handover to the Hungarian royal family, the gardens were reforested and re-maintained from 1867. At that time, the palm house to the south was built as a counterpart to the northern orangery. Today it is privately owned by a local nursery. The stays of the royal family in Gödöllő took place under a less elaborate ceremony than stays in the Viennese palaces. The garden, for example, did not have to perform as representative tasks and could serve more for private enjoyment. For this reason, a bowling alley was created, as well as a shooting range for target shooting . After Queen Elisabeth's death, the so-called "Elisabeth Park" was added to the north-western foothills of the Upper Garden in 1898, a forest-like park area that is planted with 98 different types of evergreen shrubs and trees and in 1901 was given a monument to the Queen. Only small changes were made under Miklós Horthy, for example a fountain and a (preserved) swimming pool with bathing pavilion and a tennis court were created in the courtyard.

During the Second World War, the front passed through Gödöllő in December 1944 and the gardens were devastated. During the time of the Soviet occupation and the subsequent use of the castle as a retirement home, the garden was no longer tended, instead garages were built on the meadows and many of the old trees were felled for firewood.

A slow reconstruction of the landscape garden has been taking place since 1994, but this has not yet been completed and is only taking place slowly for financial reasons. The garden still makes a natural impression and typical design elements, such as viewing aisles or bodies of water, are almost completely absent. The 28 hectare Upper Garden has been a nature reserve since 1997.

The lower garden

The castle viewed from the Lower Garden, 1869. Detail from a painting by Sándor Brodszky

Overview plan of the 4th World Scout Jamboree around Gödöllő Palace, 1933

The lower garden served useful rather than decorative purposes. It originally served to supply the farm, as the kitchen gardens, a pheasantry and the game reserve were located here. Under Antal Grassalkovich III. This garden area was also redesigned and two large swan ponds were created in front of the main facade of the palace, which were filled in again during the royal period. In contrast to the Upper Garden, the Lower Garden was largely accessible to the general public. In August 1933 the 4th World Scout Jamboree of the international scout movement took place with almost 26,000 participants from 34 countries in this area.

Apart from the reconstructed and planted bastions in front of the central wing of the castle, there are hardly any visible traces in the lower garden that indicate a planned design of the site. The plantings are overgrown and appear as a largely natural landscape. After the Second World War, this garden area was also taken over by the city of Gödöllő and partially built on with houses and other buildings.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ildikó Faludi: The Castle of Gödöllő , page 23
2. ↑ All information from this section from Ildikó Faludi: Das Schloß von Gödöllő , page 12
3. ^ Official daily newspaper Wiener Zeitung , January 3, 1865, p. 18
4. ↑ Amelie Lanier: The history of the banking and trading house Sina , in the series European university writings , Peter Lang, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, Frankfurt am Main etc. 1998, ISBN 978-3-631-33747-9 , section VI.2.3
5. ↑ About the time of the Grassalkovich: Ildikó Faludi: Das Schloß von Gödöllő , pages 17, 19, 21
6. ↑ General information about Gödöllő Castle on staedte-reisen.de ( Memento from September 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Brief description on ungarn-tourismus.at ( Memento from July 19, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ All information from this section from Ildikó Faludi: Das Schloß von Gödöllő , pages 31, 33, 35, 37, 39
9. ↑ All information from this section from Ildikó Faludi: Das Schloß von Gödöllő , pages 67, 69, 79
10. ↑ Homepage of the castle museum
11. ^ Ildikó Faludi: The Castle of Gödöllő , page 35
12. ^ Jamboree story. Scouts of Austria, accessed on May 30, 2020 . 

literature

• Ildikó Faludi: The Gödöllő Castle . Royal Palace Museum Gödöllő, 1998, ISBN 963-04-9662-3 .

Web links

Commons : Gödöllő Palace  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gödöllő Palace , website of the palace complex with palace history, visitor information and an event calendar

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on October 23, 2008 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 35 ′ 46 ″  N , 19 ° 20 ′ 52 ″  E