Marie Henrieta Chotek
Encyclopedia
Countess Henrieta Hermína Rudolfína Ferdinanda Marie Antonie Anna Chotková of Chotkov and Vojnín – (known as Marie Henrieta Chotek - ) - (1863–1946) , also known as the countess of roses was a grower of rose
s, who established the rosarium of Dolná Krupá
(Slovakia
),
is located in the Danubian Hills
at the foot of the Little Carpathians
in the Krupá River
valley. The development of the Dolná Krupá estate started when it entered in the possession
of Michael II Brunswick (1671–1719) as he married Mária Terézia Vitalisová, the newlyweds deciding to chose the property as their residence. In 1749–1756, their son, Anton Brunswick, built the first baroque
mansion, designed by the viennese architect Johann Baptist Martinelli
. On October 7, 1775, empress Maria Terezia of Austria
awarded Anton Brunswick the title of count Brunswick of Krompach
.
After Anton’s death, in 1780, the estate was inherited by his son, Jozef Brunswick (1750–1827), who appointed architect Johann Joseph Thalherr
to renovate the mansion, the works being carried out from 1782 to 1796. The renovation significantly increased the size of the building but kept the baroque style of the mansion. An orangery
and other annex buildings were constructed. In 1813 Jozef Brunswick asked architect Anton Pius Riegel
to procure several old statues
from Rome for the ornamentation of the mansion and of the park, in order to enhance its classical appearance. At the same time, from 1813–1819, landscaping
architect Christian Heinrich Nebbien
created an English garden
covering 100 hectare
s with many ponds. Other extensions and renovations were made from 1822-1828. The mansion was considered to be one of the most attractive residences of the aristocracy
in Slovakia
. Are informaţii suplimentare
Jozef Brunswick was a friend of composer Ludwig van Beethoven
who was his guest at the Dolná Krupá mansion from 1797 - 1806. A small building near the entrance to the park, called the ‘’Beethoven House’’ is claimed to be the place where the composer lived during his stay. This is where he composed the (Sonata No. 14, (Moonlight Sonata)
. At present, a Beethoven Museum is located in the house.
In 1813, Henrietta Brunswick, daughter of Jozef Brunswick, married count Heřman Chotek of Chotkov and Vojnín (1786–1822) and received the Dolná Krupá as dowry
. The Choteks
were an old Czech aristocratic
family. Sophie Chotek
, wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
, was a cousin of Maria Henrietta’s.
Herman Chotek died in 1822. In the following years, the estate stayed in the possession of the counts Chotek, first Herman’s son, Rudolf Chotek, and thereafter Maria Henrietta Chotek (1863–1945).
. Maria Henrietta enjoyed her residence in Dolná Krupá where she could devote all her time to her only passion: growing rose.
For a long time after her death, villagers remembered her as a friendly person, fluent in the local Slovak
, who participated to village festivities where she dressed in local clothes. Countess Maria Henrietta participated in local charities, generously supporting orphans and abandoned children.
In the 1890s, when she inherited the Dolna Krupa estate, she decided to create a rosarium in the mansion’s park, able to compete with the major rose gardens of the such as the Roseraie de L'Haÿ
in France and Rosarium of Sangerhausen
(at present called Europa Rosarium) in Germany. She was personally involved in breeding her roses and carried out experiments of improving rose species and developing new cultivars.
Wellknown rosarians such as Peter Lambert, Wilhelm Kordes
, Hermann Kiese
, Johannes Böttner
und Rudolf Geschwind
were proud of being her friends and appreciated not only her competence but her unselfish help. In 1909 Pope Pius X
awarded her a diploma of appreciation
.
Countess Chotek was an important member of the Verein Deutscher Rosenfreunde – VDR (Union of German Friends of Roses), which had been created in 1903, She actively participated in various congreses of rose-breeders, where her rosarium was seen as one the first three in Europe. In 1910, at the Liegnitz (today Legnica
in Silesia
) congress, count Carl Friedrich von Pückler-Burghauss
, mentioned the thee rosaria by stating: "Today chains of roses link Germany with France and Austria-Hungary". Countess Marie Henrieta Chotek was known as the "countess of roses". She is still mentioned under this name in works on the history of rose breeding.
Her enthusiasm regarding roses was remarkable. Peter Lambert states that during an exhibition in Liegnitz
Henrieta Chotek was so impressed by a rambling rose cultivar named "Fragezeichen" (Question Mark) presented by Johannes Böttner
, that she left for Frankfurt
as soon as the congress was over in order to be able to admire the new rose culvitars in all their splendor.
In 1910, after Rudolf Geschwind
's death, countess Chotek acquired his entire collection of roses, thus ensuring the preservation of the genetic patrimony created by Geschwindt. She sent two of her employees to supervise the packing and transportation of the roses, which were thereafter transplanted to a special section of her rosarium. She thus acquired over 2,000 plants, including some cultivars which had not yet been on the market. It is due to those efforts that some of Geschwind's creations are present in Sangerhausen and other today's rosaria.
The Dolná Krupá rosarium was a pride of the Union of German Friends of Roses, and, in 1914, at the Rose Congress of Zweibrücken
, rosarian Hermann Kiese
presented an enthusiastic description of the rosarium which he had visited a short time before. The Zweibrücken Congress was the last major event organized by the Union and a recognition of Countess Chotek's achievements. Only a few days after the closure of the congress, on June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary's crownprince and his wife Sophie (Marie Henrieta's cousin) were Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Saraevo
. This marked not only the beginning of World War I
but also the end of an era. From this moment, countess Chotek's and her rosarium's fates started their inexorable decline.
During World War I, countess Chotek gave up her gardening and worked as a nurse, taking care of wounded soldiers, working in the hospital of Tyrnau (now Trnava
). When she returned to her estate, at the end of the war, her rosarium was completely destroyed. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy had ceased to exist, Unter Krompach was not called Alsókorompa but had taken the name of Dolná Krupá and the little village was now part of Czechoslovakia
.
Dr. Gustav Brada, a czech horticulturist also specializing in growing roses, who visited Dolná Krupá in 1921 stated that the rosarium had been extremely damaged during the war and that the loss of some rare rose cultivars was practically impossible to overcome. The only rose garden which had not suffered due to the war was the Roseraie de L'Haÿ
in France
and the successors of Jules Gravereau, who were in charge of the rosarium were not inclined to help competition develop in the countries defeated during the war. Also, rebuilding the rose garden required important investments and countess Marie Henrieta Chotek did not have the means in the difficult economic conditions after the war.
Rose growing required much labor as the according to the procedures used in the 1920s, roses had to be replanted every 4–5 years, in order to avoid the depletion of the nutrion qualities of the soil. After the roses were removed, the plots were covered with manure
and for one year potatoes were grown. The following years beans or peas
were grown after which the plots had to be ploughed deeply before roses could be replanted. These procedures were very expensive.
However, when Gustav Brada visited Dolná Krupá again, in 1927 he could assess that countess Marie Henrieta Chotek had succeeded in rebuilding a model rosarium, which, according to him, was an important attraction in Slovakia
. The catalog printed by the rosarium listed 885 different cultivar
s, including 228 climbing roses, 33 Bourbon roses and 210 garden roses, the rest being so-called noble roses. The rosarium also created new cultivars, the most important being an "Nordlandrose II", an improvement of one of one Rudolf Geschwind
's creations. The last important creations included in the catalog were "Phaenomen" in 1933 and "Ignis" in 1934.
However these successes were superficial. The rosarium never regained the richness and the size it had in 1914, before the war. Countess Marie Henrieta Chotek was in idealist, who had an outstanding knowledge in rose breeding, who loved roses above anything in the world but who had few skills as a businesswoman. Her rose breeding school ran into financial difficulties. She was already 70 years old and did not have the intellectual and physical energy to carry on her work all by herself. She had helped others all her life but now when she needed help she could get it from nowhere. She could not maintain her rosarium any longer and both she and her rosarium were aging rapidly.
In 1934, at the inauguration of the rose garden on the Petřín Hill in Prague
, professor Karl Domin had to concede:
"The Dolná Krupá rosarium is far from what it was some time ago. The park is gradually being destroyed. Large parts of the park are being cultivated with potatoes and corn, to ensure the means of survival. The old countess lives alone in her large palace. However, the few visitors she still has can still feel how great her love of roses is."
However, changes occurred not only in Dolná Krupá. In 1934 the Union of German Friends of Roses was merged into the third section of the German Society for Horticulture and the headquarters moved to Berlin
. It was one of the measures taken by the authorities of the Third Reich to gain control over various professional organizations. The publication of the magazines of the Union of German Friends of Roses was also discontinued and replaced by the printing of year book
s. The 1938 year book is the last mentioning the Dolná Krupá rosarium.
After de Division of Czechoslovakia and the beginning of World War II
nobody was interested in roses any more. Due to the war manpower for the rose garden was scarce and every year the rosarium fell into a worse state. Towards the end of the war the palace was ransacked by the Soviet Army
and the park was destroyed. The cottage in which the countess was living in those days, called the "Swiss mansion" was completely demolished by the villagers who used the bricks as building materials to repair their own houses. Countess Marie Henrieta Chotek, old, sick and completely destitute had to rely on the charity of the villagers in order to survive. On February 13, 1946, age 83 the countess of the roses died while being cared of by the nuns of a neighboring monastery.
Marie Henrieta Chotek was buried in the family mausoleum, located in the graveyard next to the parrish church of
Dolná Krupá. The mausoleum had been built in 1895 by her father, Rudolf Chotek, and had been spared by the war.î
Nothing was left of the rosarium which had once been one of the finest in the world. The land was converted into agricultural land. The socialist economy needed crop production, not roses.
In the 1990s, German horticulturist Johannes Kalbus attempted to revive the tradition, by donating various precious rose cultivars to the Dolná Krupá domain. A new rosarium was created in Dolná Krupá in memory of the one which had belonged to Marie Henrieta Chotek. The new rosarium is sponsored by the Club of Rose Lovers of Slovakia ("Rosa Club"). Starting 1993 at the beginning of June the rosarium organizes an exhibition "The beauty of roses and of forms". Periodically seminars discussiong "Roses in human life" are organized. But the name of Maria Henrietta Chotekova, who established rose breeding in Dolná Krupá, seems to be forgotten is not mentioned any more.
Several rosarians have dedicat their roses to Marie Henrieta Chotek:
The cultivar created by Hermann Kiese in 1910 still survives and exists in the rosarium of Sangerhausen
. And thus, the name of countess Marie Henrieta Chotek remains closely linked to the Union of Rose Lovers of Germany and reminds viewers of times long gone when roses alone could be the purpose of life.
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s, who established the rosarium of Dolná Krupá
Dolná Krupá
Dolná Krupá is a village and municipality of Trnava District in the Trnava region of Slovakia. It is located in the Danubian Hills at around 12 km from the city of Trnava.The important sights in the village are:* the Saint Andrew church, built in 1807-1811...
(Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
),
The Dolná Krupá mansion
The village of Dolná KrupáDolná Krupá
Dolná Krupá is a village and municipality of Trnava District in the Trnava region of Slovakia. It is located in the Danubian Hills at around 12 km from the city of Trnava.The important sights in the village are:* the Saint Andrew church, built in 1807-1811...
is located in the Danubian Hills
Danubian Hills
The Danubian Hills , also translated as Danubian Upland, is the north-eastern, more mountain-like, part of the Danubian Lowland in Slovakia....
at the foot of the Little Carpathians
Little Carpathians
The Little Carpathians are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountains are situated in Western Slovakia, covering the area from Bratislava to Nové Mesto nad Váhom, a very small part called Hundsheimer Berge is situated south of Devín Gate in...
in the Krupá River
Krupá River
The Krupá River is a tributary of the Blava River in Trnava District, Western Slovakia. Its source is located near Okrúhla in the Little Carpathians Mountains....
valley. The development of the Dolná Krupá estate started when it entered in the possession
Ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...
of Michael II Brunswick (1671–1719) as he married Mária Terézia Vitalisová, the newlyweds deciding to chose the property as their residence. In 1749–1756, their son, Anton Brunswick, built the first baroque
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...
mansion, designed by the viennese architect Johann Baptist Martinelli
Johann Baptist Martinelli
Johann Baptist Martinelli or Giovanni Battista Martinelli was an Austrian architect and constructor of Italian descent.He was the son of architect Franz Martinelli...
. On October 7, 1775, empress Maria Terezia of Austria
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
awarded Anton Brunswick the title of count Brunswick of Krompach
Krompachy
Krompachy is a town in Slovakia, with a rich mining and metallurgical history, well-known both in Slovakia and in its close neighboring countries for its Plejsy ski center.- History :...
.
After Anton’s death, in 1780, the estate was inherited by his son, Jozef Brunswick (1750–1827), who appointed architect Johann Joseph Thalherr
Johann Joseph Thalherr
Johann Joseph Thalherr , also known as or , was an Austrian architect.Joseph Thalherr was born in Fulnek, Moravia...
to renovate the mansion, the works being carried out from 1782 to 1796. The renovation significantly increased the size of the building but kept the baroque style of the mansion. An orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
and other annex buildings were constructed. In 1813 Jozef Brunswick asked architect Anton Pius Riegel
Anton Pius Riegel
Anton Pius Riegel or Rigel was an Austrian architect of the 19th century.He is mainly known for the design of the Károlyi palais in Budapest Hungary and of the mansion of Dolná Krupá in Slovakia.- References :* Museum of Literature * Jana Šulcová - Tri kapitoly zo stavebných dejín kaštieľa v...
to procure several old statues
Statues
Statues is a popular children's game, often played in Australia but with versions throughout the world.-General rules:# A person starts out as the "Curator" and stands at the end of a field. Everyone else playing stands at the far end...
from Rome for the ornamentation of the mansion and of the park, in order to enhance its classical appearance. At the same time, from 1813–1819, landscaping
Landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
architect Christian Heinrich Nebbien
Christian Heinrich Nebbien
Christian Heinrich Nebbien, also known as Heinrich Nebbien or Henrik Nebbien, was a Belgian-born landscaping architect, mainly active in Austria....
created an English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
covering 100 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s with many ponds. Other extensions and renovations were made from 1822-1828. The mansion was considered to be one of the most attractive residences of the aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. Are informaţii suplimentare
Jozef Brunswick was a friend of composer Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
who was his guest at the Dolná Krupá mansion from 1797 - 1806. A small building near the entrance to the park, called the ‘’Beethoven House’’ is claimed to be the place where the composer lived during his stay. This is where he composed the (Sonata No. 14, (Moonlight Sonata)
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
. At present, a Beethoven Museum is located in the house.
In 1813, Henrietta Brunswick, daughter of Jozef Brunswick, married count Heřman Chotek of Chotkov and Vojnín (1786–1822) and received the Dolná Krupá as dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. The Choteks
Chotek family
The Chotek family was an aristocratic family from Bohemia. When this and other Bohemian noble families' surnames and/or territorial suffixes are translated from the Czech language, particules and conjunctions are usually translated into German, rather than into English..The family is first...
were an old Czech aristocratic
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
family. Sophie Chotek
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg ; 1 March 1868 – 28 June 1914) was a Czech aristocrat, the morganatic wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Their assassination sparked World War I.- Early life :...
, wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
, was a cousin of Maria Henrietta’s.
Herman Chotek died in 1822. In the following years, the estate stayed in the possession of the counts Chotek, first Herman’s son, Rudolf Chotek, and thereafter Maria Henrietta Chotek (1863–1945).
Maria Henrietta Chotek and the beginning of the Dolná Krupá rose garden
Countess Maria Henrietta Chotek was born on November 24, 1863. Maria Henrietta was a lonely person. She never married and thought she was very wealthy and was part of the Autro-Hungarioan high aristocracy she never wanted to go to the imperial court, even after her cousin had married the Crown princeCrown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
. Maria Henrietta enjoyed her residence in Dolná Krupá where she could devote all her time to her only passion: growing rose.
For a long time after her death, villagers remembered her as a friendly person, fluent in the local Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
, who participated to village festivities where she dressed in local clothes. Countess Maria Henrietta participated in local charities, generously supporting orphans and abandoned children.
In the 1890s, when she inherited the Dolna Krupa estate, she decided to create a rosarium in the mansion’s park, able to compete with the major rose gardens of the such as the Roseraie de L'Haÿ
Roseraie de L'Haÿ
thumb|250px|left|Dôme de la Roseraie du Val-de-Marne.thumb|250px|right|Côté du dôme de la Roseraie du Val-de-Marne.Roseraie du Val-de-Marne or Roseraie de L'Haÿ is a garden devoted to roses established in 1899 on rue Albert Watel in L'Haÿ-les-Roses, Val-de-Marne, France.About 8 km south of...
in France and Rosarium of Sangerhausen
Sangerhausen
Sangerhausen is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, without being part of it.It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. 35 km east of Nordhausen, and 50 km west of Halle...
(at present called Europa Rosarium) in Germany. She was personally involved in breeding her roses and carried out experiments of improving rose species and developing new cultivars.
Wellknown rosarians such as Peter Lambert, Wilhelm Kordes
Wilhelm Kordes
Wilhelm Kordes I was a German horticulturist.His sons, the breeder Wilhelm Kordes II and Hermann Kordes continued to expand the business, now known as W. Kordes’ Söhne...
, Hermann Kiese
Hermann Kiese
Hermann Kiese was a German rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars.Born in Vieselbach, Thuringia, Germany on May 8, 1865. He worked for 22 years as gardener for the Johann Christoff Schmidt rosarium in Erfurt...
, Johannes Böttner
Johannes Böttner
Johannes Böttner was a German horticulturist.He created new cultivars of roses and vegetables: asparagus , strawberries and rhubarb Johannes Böttner (b September 3, 1861 in Greußen, Germany - d April 28, 1919 in Frankfurt (Oder)) was a German horticulturist.He created new cultivars of roses...
und Rudolf Geschwind
Rudolf Geschwind
Rudolf Geschwind was an Austrian rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars....
were proud of being her friends and appreciated not only her competence but her unselfish help. In 1909 Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
awarded her a diploma of appreciation
Appreciation
In accounting, appreciation of an asset is an increase in its value. In this sense it is the reverse of depreciation, which measures the fall in value of assets over their normal life-time...
.
Countess Chotek was an important member of the Verein Deutscher Rosenfreunde – VDR (Union of German Friends of Roses), which had been created in 1903, She actively participated in various congreses of rose-breeders, where her rosarium was seen as one the first three in Europe. In 1910, at the Liegnitz (today Legnica
Legnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
) congress, count Carl Friedrich von Pückler-Burghauss
Carl Friedrich von Pückler-Burghauss
Carl Friedrich Count of Pückler-Burghauss, Baron of Groditz was a German politician and Waffen-SS officer in the rank of SS-Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS and member of the German parliament during the Weimar Republic and also a writer,...
, mentioned the thee rosaria by stating: "Today chains of roses link Germany with France and Austria-Hungary". Countess Marie Henrieta Chotek was known as the "countess of roses". She is still mentioned under this name in works on the history of rose breeding.
Her enthusiasm regarding roses was remarkable. Peter Lambert states that during an exhibition in Liegnitz
Legnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
Henrieta Chotek was so impressed by a rambling rose cultivar named "Fragezeichen" (Question Mark) presented by Johannes Böttner
Johannes Böttner
Johannes Böttner was a German horticulturist.He created new cultivars of roses and vegetables: asparagus , strawberries and rhubarb Johannes Böttner (b September 3, 1861 in Greußen, Germany - d April 28, 1919 in Frankfurt (Oder)) was a German horticulturist.He created new cultivars of roses...
, that she left for Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
as soon as the congress was over in order to be able to admire the new rose culvitars in all their splendor.
In 1910, after Rudolf Geschwind
Rudolf Geschwind
Rudolf Geschwind was an Austrian rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars....
's death, countess Chotek acquired his entire collection of roses, thus ensuring the preservation of the genetic patrimony created by Geschwindt. She sent two of her employees to supervise the packing and transportation of the roses, which were thereafter transplanted to a special section of her rosarium. She thus acquired over 2,000 plants, including some cultivars which had not yet been on the market. It is due to those efforts that some of Geschwind's creations are present in Sangerhausen and other today's rosaria.
The Dolná Krupá rosarium was a pride of the Union of German Friends of Roses, and, in 1914, at the Rose Congress of Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.- Name :Zweibrücken appears in Latin texts as Geminus Pons and Bipontum, in French texts as Deux-Ponts. The name derives from Middle High German Zweinbrücken...
, rosarian Hermann Kiese
Hermann Kiese
Hermann Kiese was a German rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars.Born in Vieselbach, Thuringia, Germany on May 8, 1865. He worked for 22 years as gardener for the Johann Christoff Schmidt rosarium in Erfurt...
presented an enthusiastic description of the rosarium which he had visited a short time before. The Zweibrücken Congress was the last major event organized by the Union and a recognition of Countess Chotek's achievements. Only a few days after the closure of the congress, on June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary's crownprince and his wife Sophie (Marie Henrieta's cousin) were Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Saraevo
Saraevo
Saraevo , is a village in Northwestern Bulgaria, part of Miziya municipality, Vratsa Province. Located on Skat River where flows into the Danube....
. This marked not only the beginning of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
but also the end of an era. From this moment, countess Chotek's and her rosarium's fates started their inexorable decline.
During World War I, countess Chotek gave up her gardening and worked as a nurse, taking care of wounded soldiers, working in the hospital of Tyrnau (now Trnava
Trnava
Trnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...
). When she returned to her estate, at the end of the war, her rosarium was completely destroyed. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy had ceased to exist, Unter Krompach was not called Alsókorompa but had taken the name of Dolná Krupá and the little village was now part of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
Decline of the Dolná Krupá rosarium
After the end of the war, countess Marie Henrieta Chotek started to work on rebuilding her rosarium. But, after the war, the number of those interested in roses or who could afford such an activity had dramatically declined. In order to revive the interest for the roses she loved so dearly, besides working on her rosarium, she also established in Dolná Krupá a school for rose growing.Roseraie de L'Haÿ
thumb|250px|left|Dôme de la Roseraie du Val-de-Marne.thumb|250px|right|Côté du dôme de la Roseraie du Val-de-Marne.Roseraie du Val-de-Marne or Roseraie de L'Haÿ is a garden devoted to roses established in 1899 on rue Albert Watel in L'Haÿ-les-Roses, Val-de-Marne, France.About 8 km south of...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the successors of Jules Gravereau, who were in charge of the rosarium were not inclined to help competition develop in the countries defeated during the war. Also, rebuilding the rose garden required important investments and countess Marie Henrieta Chotek did not have the means in the difficult economic conditions after the war.
Rose growing required much labor as the according to the procedures used in the 1920s, roses had to be replanted every 4–5 years, in order to avoid the depletion of the nutrion qualities of the soil. After the roses were removed, the plots were covered with manure
Manure
Manure is organic matter used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Manures contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are trapped by bacteria in the soil...
and for one year potatoes were grown. The following years beans or peas
PEAS
P.E.A.S. is an acronym in artificial intelligence that stands for Performance, Environment, Actuators, Sensors.-Performance:Performance is a function that measures the quality of the actions the agent did....
were grown after which the plots had to be ploughed deeply before roses could be replanted. These procedures were very expensive.
However, when Gustav Brada visited Dolná Krupá again, in 1927 he could assess that countess Marie Henrieta Chotek had succeeded in rebuilding a model rosarium, which, according to him, was an important attraction in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. The catalog printed by the rosarium listed 885 different cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s, including 228 climbing roses, 33 Bourbon roses and 210 garden roses, the rest being so-called noble roses. The rosarium also created new cultivars, the most important being an "Nordlandrose II", an improvement of one of one Rudolf Geschwind
Rudolf Geschwind
Rudolf Geschwind was an Austrian rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars....
's creations. The last important creations included in the catalog were "Phaenomen" in 1933 and "Ignis" in 1934.
However these successes were superficial. The rosarium never regained the richness and the size it had in 1914, before the war. Countess Marie Henrieta Chotek was in idealist, who had an outstanding knowledge in rose breeding, who loved roses above anything in the world but who had few skills as a businesswoman. Her rose breeding school ran into financial difficulties. She was already 70 years old and did not have the intellectual and physical energy to carry on her work all by herself. She had helped others all her life but now when she needed help she could get it from nowhere. She could not maintain her rosarium any longer and both she and her rosarium were aging rapidly.
In 1934, at the inauguration of the rose garden on the Petřín Hill in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, professor Karl Domin had to concede:
"The Dolná Krupá rosarium is far from what it was some time ago. The park is gradually being destroyed. Large parts of the park are being cultivated with potatoes and corn, to ensure the means of survival. The old countess lives alone in her large palace. However, the few visitors she still has can still feel how great her love of roses is."
However, changes occurred not only in Dolná Krupá. In 1934 the Union of German Friends of Roses was merged into the third section of the German Society for Horticulture and the headquarters moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. It was one of the measures taken by the authorities of the Third Reich to gain control over various professional organizations. The publication of the magazines of the Union of German Friends of Roses was also discontinued and replaced by the printing of year book
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
s. The 1938 year book is the last mentioning the Dolná Krupá rosarium.
After de Division of Czechoslovakia and the beginning of World War II
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...
nobody was interested in roses any more. Due to the war manpower for the rose garden was scarce and every year the rosarium fell into a worse state. Towards the end of the war the palace was ransacked by the Soviet Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
and the park was destroyed. The cottage in which the countess was living in those days, called the "Swiss mansion" was completely demolished by the villagers who used the bricks as building materials to repair their own houses. Countess Marie Henrieta Chotek, old, sick and completely destitute had to rely on the charity of the villagers in order to survive. On February 13, 1946, age 83 the countess of the roses died while being cared of by the nuns of a neighboring monastery.
Marie Henrieta Chotek was buried in the family mausoleum, located in the graveyard next to the parrish church of
Dolná Krupá. The mausoleum had been built in 1895 by her father, Rudolf Chotek, and had been spared by the war.î
Legacy
All the properties of the Chotek family were nationalized by the Czechoslovak communist authorities. The palace was converted into a psychiatric hospital which operated from 1949 to 1969. In 1969 it was converted into a retreat for Slovak writers and consequently became a museum. It still has this destination.Nothing was left of the rosarium which had once been one of the finest in the world. The land was converted into agricultural land. The socialist economy needed crop production, not roses.
In the 1990s, German horticulturist Johannes Kalbus attempted to revive the tradition, by donating various precious rose cultivars to the Dolná Krupá domain. A new rosarium was created in Dolná Krupá in memory of the one which had belonged to Marie Henrieta Chotek. The new rosarium is sponsored by the Club of Rose Lovers of Slovakia ("Rosa Club"). Starting 1993 at the beginning of June the rosarium organizes an exhibition "The beauty of roses and of forms". Periodically seminars discussiong "Roses in human life" are organized. But the name of Maria Henrietta Chotekova, who established rose breeding in Dolná Krupá, seems to be forgotten is not mentioned any more.
Several rosarians have dedicat their roses to Marie Henrieta Chotek:
- Marie Henriette Gräfin Chotek created by Hermann KieseHermann KieseHermann Kiese was a German rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars.Born in Vieselbach, Thuringia, Germany on May 8, 1865. He worked for 22 years as gardener for the Johann Christoff Schmidt rosarium in Erfurt...
in 1910; - Marie Henriette Gräfin Chotek created by Peter LambertPeter LambertPeter Lambert was a German rosarian known for his breeding of rose cultivars.Peter Lambert was born on June 1, 1859 in Trier, Germany. He acquired his knowledge of roses when working with his father Jean Lambert in his nursery "Lambert & Reiter", which he had started in 1869 with his brother...
in 1911; - Hraběnka Choteková created by Jan Böhm în 1932
The cultivar created by Hermann Kiese in 1910 still survives and exists in the rosarium of Sangerhausen
Sangerhausen
Sangerhausen is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, without being part of it.It is situated southeast of the Harz, approx. 35 km east of Nordhausen, and 50 km west of Halle...
. And thus, the name of countess Marie Henrieta Chotek remains closely linked to the Union of Rose Lovers of Germany and reminds viewers of times long gone when roses alone could be the purpose of life.