Topoľčianky Castle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Main front of the castle at the beginning of the 20th century

The Topoľčianky Castle (Hungarian Kistapolcsány , German Kleintopoltschan ) is a castle with a park in the town of the same name in western Slovakia . Until 1918 the rule of Kleintopoltschan belonged to Austria-Hungary and was together with the town of the same name in Bars County .

history

Staircase, condition before 1918

The history of the castle goes back to the Tapolcsány family, who were majorate lords in this region between 1293 and 1614. After this family died out, the manor was auctioned off on January 16, 1616. The contract was awarded the Baron László Pethe-Hetessi, the rule for 46,000 gold florins acquired. His daughter Anna Pethe married Count Paul Rákóczi (* 1596, † March 12, 1636) in 1627. Through this marriage the rule passed into the possession of the Rákóczis.

Franz II. Rákóczi , the last owner of the rule from this noble family, had to leave the country after the uprising was put down . After the village was occupied by the troops of General Sigbert Heister in August 1708, the rule fell to the Viennese court and came into the possession of Emperor Joseph I. In autumn 1711 he sold the rule to Count Karl Zichy .

patio

In 1742 the Zichys sold the rule to the Croatian Count Adam Keglevich . The last owner of the estate from this family was István Keglevich (* December 18, 1840 in Vienna , † May 25, 1905 in Budapest ). Due to poor management, the rule came under the hammer and was auctioned again on September 20, 1890. The contract was awarded Archduke Joseph Karl Ludwig of Austria . The rule then passed into the possession of the Habsburgs .

After the death of Joseph Karl Ludwig, the property passed into the possession of his son, Archduke Joseph August of Austria . This demolished the agricultural buildings near the castle and enlarged the park to a total area of ​​approx. 40 hectares . He was very interested in beautifying the park. He carried out afforestation , had some ponds built in the park and acquired three sculptures ( bear , boar and deer ) by the well-known Hungarian sculptor Alajos Strobl , which he had set up in the palace gardens . Joseph August set up a stud farm and began breeding horses , which became famous throughout Hungary. In 1910 he had a new Secession- style hunting lodge built and a new riding arena and a wagon depot (for horse-drawn vehicles and sleighs ) built near the palace.

Partial view of the palace gardens (state before 1918)

Archduke Joseph August furnished the palace with valuable furniture and expanded the library , which grew to 14,000 volumes.

After the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the Treaty of Trianon , this area became part of the newly founded Czechoslovakia . The Kistapolcsány rule was nationalized. The Habsburgs were expropriated. Archduke Joseph August sought in vain a lawsuit to recover his property. The Habsburgs did not get their property back from the Czechoslovak Republic.

After the First World War , Topoľčianky Castle and its valuable furnishings were made available to the presidents of the new republic as a summer residence. The first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, used the castle regularly between 1923 and 1935 for his, in some cases, very extensive vacation stays. After Masaryk's death, it was only used sporadically by the later presidents. On August 28, 1949, Klement Gottwald transferred the palace and its valuable furnishings to the “revolutionary” trade unions; it was to serve as a rest home for the working people of communist Czechoslovakia . As a result, large parts of the original valuable furnishings and inventory perished.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution , the castle was placed under a preservation order. Large parts of the castle have been restored. It now serves as a museum that has been made accessible to visitors.

architecture

Sculpture of the deer in the castle park. (a work by the sculptor Alajos Strobl)

The oldest parts of the castle were built in the late Gothic style in the 15th and 16th centuries and partially rebuilt in the Renaissance style in the 17th century and fortified against the Turks . After a few baroque ingredients, the oldest of the four wings, which enclose a courtyard with two-storey arcades , was demolished in 1820 and, on the order of Johann Nepomuk Keglevich (born May 13, 1786 in Pest , † October 15, 1856 in Kistapolcsány) was generously disposed of, replaced monumental classical new building. The Austrian court architect Alois Pichl was commissioned to plan and carry out this project in 1818. The work was completed in 1825.

The large dome is characteristic . Prior to this sale in the facade of a three-axis portico connected to the area bounded by four columns and a tympanum enclosed balcony , seems dominant. Some of the exquisite furnishings date from the 17th century, which was generously supplemented after the Habsburgs bought the castle at the end of the 19th century.

literature

Web links

Commons : Topoľčianky Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ The last heir to the family was Ilona Tapolcsány, who died in 1614.
  2. ↑ István Keglevich was director of the Budapest Opera House and the National Theater from 1898–1902 . He led a restless and unsteady life. In May 1905 he fell victim to a politically motivated duel - fought with swords - in the building of the Budapest Parliament .
  3. ↑ The horse breeding in Topol'čianky was founded by Count Karl Keglevich (* 1739, † 1804). The Habsburgs successfully continued his work, they brought it to international importance. Lipizzaners , Hutsuls , Nonius horses and other species were successfully bred here. After the Habsburgs were expropriated, the 'State Stud' Topol'čianky (today 'National Stud of Slovakia') was founded on October 15, 1921 on the property of Joseph August von Austria. The state stud has taken over the historic riding arena, old stables, meadows and pastures from the former Habsburg property in Topol'čianky.
  4. ^ Johann Nepomuk Keglevich was the son of Count Karl Keglevich. He was Imperial Chamberlain, Privy Councilor, Chief Chamberlain of the Kingdom of Hungary , Conservator for the Upper Pressburg administrative area of ​​Hungary and a humanist . His painting collection, founded in 1813, although not very numerous, contained many valuable paintings by famous masters.
  5. ^ Alois Pichl was born in Milan in 1782 in what was then Austrian Lombardy . His father Wenzel Pichl (* 1741, † 1805) was Kapellmeister at the Milanese court of Ferdinand Karl von Habsburg . The mother Katharina came from the wealthy Hungarian family Somogy de Kolozsvár. Alois Pichl first studied in Italy and completed his training at the Vienna Academy around 1802. In 1803 he became court architect of the Archduke and Archduke Ferdinand Karl and Beatrix . In the following years Pichl worked primarily in Hungary , where he worked for the most distinguished families. In 1809 he married Maria Anna geb. Böhm, the daughters Marie (* 1814; † 1847) and Rosalia (* 1816; † 1856) emerged from the marriage. Alois Pichl died on May 19, 1856 in Vienna. (Source: Architects Lexicon Vienna 1770–1945)

Coordinates: 48 ° 25 ′ 17.1 ″  N , 18 ° 24 ′ 46.4 ″  E