Festetics Palace
Encyclopedia
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
located in the town of Keszthely
Keszthely
Keszthely is a Hungarian city of 21,100 inhabitants located on the western shore of Lake Balaton. It's the second largest city by the lake after Siófok....
, Zala
Zala
Zala is the name of an administrative county in Hungary. Itlies in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia and Slovenia and the Hungarian counties Vas, Veszprém and Somogy. The capital of Zala county is Zalaegerszeg. Its area is 3784 km²...
county
Counties of Hungary
Hungary is subdivided administratively into 20 regions which are the 19 counties and the capital city : Budapest...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Its construction, started by Kristóf Festetics in 1745, lasted more than a century, during which the palace, built at first on the foundations of a ruined castle, was tripled in size, in two subsequent building campaigns, most recently in the 1880s, to designs by Viktor Rumpelmayer
Viktor Rumpelmayer
Viktor Rumpelmayer was a 19th-century Austro-Hungarian architect, whose style was a combination of French and Italian influences and the Viennese trends characteristic for the period...
, living in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. When Rumpelmayer died in 1885, the work was carried to completion by architects Gusztáv Haas and Miksa Paschkisch. The result is one of the three largest country houses in Hungary.
The counts Festetics were progressive landowners: Kristóf Festetics founded a hospital, Pál Festetics established a school in the town, and in 1797, Count György Festetics opened an Agricultural University, the Georgikon, Europe's first agricultural college, which is still in operation as a faculty of the University of Pannonia.
György Festetics
Count György László Festetics de Tolna was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister besides the King between 1867 and 1871.His son was Tasziló Festetics, 1st Prince Festetics.-References:* *...
in 1799—1801, with guidance from András Fischer of the Vienna Academy. Execution was entrusted to local artisans. The dining room (now a concert hall) has stucco decor by Mátyás Vathner from the town of Pápa
Pápa
Pápa is a historical city in Veszprém county, Hungary, located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills, and noted for its baroque architecture. With its 33,000 inhabitants, it is the cultural, economic and tourism centre of the region....
. Stonework was executed by the local mason József Zitterbart, locksmithing by a local master craftsman, József Dobrolán, tiled stoves by József Pittermann and inlaid floors and woodwork by master carpenter János Kerbl, who was also responsible for the fittings in the library. The book collection was made available to students of the Georgikon. The great book collection that remains in the castle is the only extensive aristocratic library that survives in Hungary. The result is that the central axis of the garden front is centered on one pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
of the corps de logis
Corps de logis
Corps de logis is the architectural term which refers to the principal block of a large, usually classical, mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry. The grandest and finest rooms are often on the first floor above the ground level: this floor is the...
, rather than on the prominent central tower of the extension built in the 1880s, with prominent mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
s and richly framed dormer windows typical of the neo-Baroque French Second Empire style, and neo-Renaissance
Neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival is an all-encompassing designation that covers many 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Grecian nor Gothic but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes...
woodwork in some of the interiors; on the entrance side facing the town the axis remains centered on the original baroque structure, now a flanking wing.
Tassilo Festetics von Tolna
Prince Tasziló Festetics de Tolna was a member of the Hungarian noble family of Festetics...
, who married Lady Mary Douglas-Hamilton
Mary Victoria Hamilton
Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton, also known as the Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton was the Lanarkshire-born, Scottish-German-French great-grandmother of Prince Rainier III of Monaco, the fashion designer Prince Egon von Fürstenberg, the socialite and actress Princess Ira von Fürstenberg and the...
(1850-1922) on 2 June 1880, and who entertained Edward, Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
in October 1885 and again in 1888, during his "incognito" Hungarian visits, accompanied by his great friend the Duke of Hamilton
William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton
William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton, 9th Duke of Brandon, 2nd Duke of Châtellerault KT was a Scottish nobleman.-Biography:...
, Festetics' brother-in-law Portraits of Festetics in tartans remain in the palace.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The palace has housed an independent museum (Helikon Castle Museum) since 1974; it is visited by 200,000 people each year.
The parterres in which the palace stands were extended in the nineteenth century with a naturalistic landscape park in the English fashion. There are concerts in the summer seasons.
The stable block now houses a collection of coaches and carriages.