Snežnik Castle
Encyclopedia
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
located in the southwest part of the Lož Valley near the settlement of Kozarišče
Kozarišce
Kozarišče is a village to the south of Stari trg in the Loška dolina Municipality in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia. The area of the village extends to the south of the main settlement right to the Snežnik plateau and to the border with Croatia....
in the municipality of Loška dolina
Loška Dolina
Loška Dolina is a municipality in Slovenia. It is part of the Inner Carniola traditional region. Snežnik Castle is located in the municipality.-References:...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. Its name is coincidentally identical to the possessive form of the Slovene word sneg ("snow"), but is actually a slovenized form of the name of the noble house of Schneberg, whose possession it initially was. The Schnebergs were followed by the houses of Lamberg, Eggenberg
Eggenberg
-Places:*Eggenberg , a district of the Austrian city of Graz*Schloss Eggenberg , a palace in Graz*Eggenberg, Switzerland, a village in the municipality of Mühleberg, canton of Berne*Eggenberg House, city palace in Sopron , Hungary...
, Lichtenburg
Lichtenburg
Lichtenburg is a proper noun referring to:*Lichtenburg, a city in the North West Province of South Africa*Lichtenburg, a Nazi concentration camp in eastern Germany...
, and Schönburg-Waldenburg.
History
The date of the castle's construction is unclear; its existence is first implied in 1269, by way of mention of its owner Meinhard von Schneberg . The castle itself is first mentioned in 1461, as the manor of Sneberk; at the time it was a possession of the Patriarchate of AquileiaPatriarchate of Aquileia (State)
The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an Imperial State in the Friulian region of Northeastern Italy under the control of the Patriarchs of Aquileia.- Foundation :...
, with the Schnebergs as their ministeriales. The family fractured the estate through multiple heirs; by the late 14th century the castle had several co-owners. In 1393, a quarter-share of it and several neighboring farms was purchased by Wiiliam II von Lamberg, a relative of the Schnebergs; his descendants increased their share through the 15th century until they owned the entire estate, giving the castle its more-or-less current renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
appearance as well.
By marriages, the castle passed to the Scheyer family, followed by the Prancks and, in the first third of the 17th century, the barons Rambschissl, who sold it to the Imperial governor of Carniola, prince Eggenberg. Along with Snežnik, the prince bought the lordship of Lož, moving its administrative center from the uncomfortable, hilltop Lož Castle
Lož Castle
Lož Castle , also known as Pusti Grad , is a castle ruin above the settlement of Lož in central Slovenia's Lož Valley. The castle and its lordship are mentioned in period documents under various names, including Los, Louse, Lose, and Lösch.-History:Built in the mid-12th century by the Patriarchate...
to the more amiable and better-accessible manor at Snežnik. In 1669, Janez Žiga Eggenberg sold the Loš-Snežnik lordship to prince Janez Vajkard Auersperg, the count of Gottschee
Gottschee County
Gottschee County refers to the former German speaking region in the Duchy of Carniola , a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, located in modern day Slovenia...
(Kočevje
Kocevje
Kočevje is a city and a municipality in southern Slovenia. In terms of area it is the largest municipality in Slovenia. It is located between the rivers Krka and Kolpa and is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola. It is now included in the Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistical region...
).
in 1707 the estate was taken over by count Jurij Gotfrid Lichtenberg, who in 1718 permanently joined the Lož and Snežnik lordships. The house of Lichtenberg held the estate for 140 years, a period marked by the centralist policies of the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
monarchy, in particular the constant diminution of the rights of the nobility. By the early 19th century, the Lichtenberg had been forced deep into hock; a court-ordered appraial occurred in 1816. In 1832 the family was forced to accept a lottery loan; the main prize was the entire Snežnik estate, or 250,000 florins
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
. The lucky winner, a Hungarian
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
blacksmith, took the cash, while the Lichtenbergs went on to sell the estate in 1847 to a Viennese
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...
couple named Karis, who went bankrupt shortly thereafter. The estate was purchased at auction in 1853 for 800,000 florins by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
prince Oton Viktor Schoenburg-Waldenburg.
Prince Jurij, the third son of Oton Viktor, inherited the castle in 1859 and heavily remodeled it for use as a summer home and hunting lodge. In addition to adding a story, two turrets, a terrace, and elevating the defensive walls, he also richly furnished the interior and established a surrounding English-style park.
Wishing to preserve the estate for his heirs, the prince established a fideicommiss
Fee tail
At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...
about the property. Stocking the woods with deer and the ponds with trout, he ordered several paths built through the forest, he also hired experts to maintain the surrounding wilderness, and was the patron of the first Slovene forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
school, opened in the castle in 1869 but closed in 1875 due to germanophone political pressure. The princes' construction of a steam sawmill began the industrial development of the Lož Valley.
In 1902 prince Jurij was succeeded by his firstborn, Herman, a diplomat. After 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...
the estate was divided between Italy and the Kingdom of SHS by the Treaty of Rapallo
Treaty of Rapallo
Following World War I there were two Treaties of Rapallo, both named after Rapallo, a resort on the Ligurian coast of Italy:* Treaty of Rapallo, 1920, an agreement between Italy and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes for the independence of the state of Fiume and Italian renunciation...
. Prince Herman died in 1943 at the family castle of Hermsdorf
Hermsdorf
Hermsdorf may refer to the following places:*in Germany:**Hermsdorf, Brandenburg, in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, Brandenburg**Hermsdorf, Saxony-Anhalt, in the Börde district, Saxony-Anhalt**Hermsdorf, Saxony, in the Weißeritzkreis district, Saxony...
by Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. During WWII the castle caretaker faithfully guarded the estate, repelling looters; as a consequence, the interior furnishing of the Schoenburgs survive intact. In 1945, the castle and estate were nationalized, and became a hunting lodge reserved for high state functionaries. In 1983, the castle was opened to the public as a museum.
Architecture
Grave markers looted from the ruins of an ancient Roman outpost in ŠmarataŠmarata
Šmarata is a village to the south of Stari trg pri Ložu in the Loška dolina Municipality in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia.The local church from which the settlement gets its name is dedicated to Saint Margaret and belongs to the Stari trg Parish....
were incorporated into the castle's facade. The four-story building is surrounded by a renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
-era wall. The castle was heavily remodeled in the second half of the 19th century; the majority of the interior furnishings date from this period, as do the castle parkgrounds, which are characterized by numerous meadows connected by riding and walking paths, bordered with numerous chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
and linden
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
tree rows, and which contain two small artificial lakes filled by the streams of Obrh and Brezno.
An engraving in Valvasor
Janez Vajkard Valvasor
Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor or simply Valvasor was a Slovenian nobleman, scientist and polymath, and a fellow of the Royal Society in London.-Biography:...
's 1689 The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola is Johann Weikhard von Valvasor's most important work on history and natural history of his homeland Carniola, a central part of the present-day Slovenia and Istria in Croatia....
depicts Snežnik (as "Schneeperg"); while of generally similar appearance and layout as today, the twin round and diagonally square corner turrets guarding the main gate were then smaller, square wooden watchtowers. The engraving also shows the castle's defensive ditch had not yet been flooded and was traversed by a simple wooden bridge had instead of a multi-arched stone one.