Brdo Castle near Kranj ( sl, grad Brdo pri Kranju, german: Egg bei Krainburg), usually simply Brdo Castle ( sl, grad Brdo), is an estate and a mansion in the

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n region of

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

west of the village of

Predoslje Predoslje (; german: Predassel''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 56.) is a village in the Municipality of Kranj in the Upper Carniola re ...

City Municipality of Kranj The City Municipality of Kranj (; sl, Mestna občina Kranj) is one of twelve city municipalities of Slovenia. It lies in northwestern Slovenia and was established in 1994. Its seat is the city of Kranj. The area traditionally belongs to the re ...

, northwest of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. It is the

Slovenian government The politics of Slovenia takes place in a framework of a Parliamentary system, parliamentary Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Slovenia is the head of government, and of a multi-party sys ...

's main venue for diplomatic meetings and other government-sponsored events.

Name

Brdo was attested in written sources as ''Eck'' in 1430, ''Egkh'' in 1490, and ''Ekh'' in 1499.

History

The present mansion was built by

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

Georg (Jurij) Egkh, general administrator of

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

private estates in the

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carn ...

, upon the permission by Maximillian I issued in 1510. It was the first

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

castle in the

, though it has been frequently renovated since. In the 18th century, it was bought by Michelangelo Zois, father of the Carniolan Enlightenment patron of the arts and natural scientist

Sigmund Zois Sigmund Zois Freiherr von Edelstein, usually referred as Sigmund Zois ( sl, Žiga Zois, formerly Slovenized as ''Cojs'' or ''Cojz''; ) (23 November 1747 – 10 November 1819) was a Carniolan nobleman, natural scientist and patron of the arts. He ...

. In the 19th century, its interior was completely renovated. In the first decades of the 20th century, it fell into decay until it was bought by

Prince Paul of Yugoslavia Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, also known as Paul Karađorđević ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Pavle Karađorđević, Павле Карађорђевић, English transliteration: ''Paul Karageorgevich''; 27 April 1893 – 14 September 1976), was prince regent o ...

in 1935. Prince Paul transformed Brdo from an

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

and

biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

provincial mansion into a refined summer royal residence. Between 1935 and 1941, several prominent individuals stayed as guests at Brdo, including Edward III of the United Kingdom. After Yugoslavia became a

communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...

in 1945, the mansion was confiscated from the

Karađorđević dynasty The Karađorđević dynasty ( sr-Cyrl, Динасија Карађорђевић, Dinasija Karađorđević, Карађорђевићи / Karađorđevići, ) or House of Karađorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Кућа Карађорђевић, Kuća Karađ ...

and in 1947 after being nationalised became a summer retreat of the Yugoslav leader

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

. Brdo and the Vila Bled at the nearby

Lake Bled Lake Bled ( sl, Blejsko jezero; german: Bleder See, Veldeser See) is a lake in the Julian Alps of the Upper Carniolan region of northwestern Slovenia, where it adjoins the town of Bled. The area is a tourist destination. The lake is from Ljublj ...

were two former royal residences he typically spent much time in spring and summer. During one such visit in the spring of 1980, Tito suffered a seizure at Brdo and was transferred to the

Ljubljana University Medical Centre The Ljubljana University Medical Centre ( sl, Univerzitetni klinični center Ljubljana, abb. ''UKC Ljubljana'') or Ljubljana UMC is the largest hospital centre in Slovenia based in Ljubljana. It was officially opened on 29 November 1975 and has ...

, where he later died. After Tito's death in 1980, the estate was transferred to the

Socialist Republic of Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična republika Slovenija, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Sociali ...

and it was later inherited by the Government of the independent Slovenian state. In its traditional role of hosting national and international conferences, in 1990, it was the venue of a conference between the leaders of the six Yugoslav republics in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the dissolution of the federation. On June 16, 2001, it hosted a summit between George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, which was the first official meeting between the two leaders. During Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of 2008, it was the venue of a series of top-level international meetings. The interior of the mansion is decorated with paintings, frescos and sculptures by prominent Slovene artists, such as

Božidar Jakac Božidar Jakac (July 16, 1899 – November 20, 1989) was a Slovene Expressionist, Realist and Symbolist painter, printmaker, art teacher, photographer and filmmaker. He produced one of the most extensive oeuvres of pastels and oil paintings ...

, Maksim Sedej, Boris Kalin, Zdenko Kalin, and Karel Putrih. The Brdo Congress Centre, built for the Slovenian

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

in 2008, is located in the Brdo compound, near the Renaissance castle complex. It has an area of . The new glass building is set in the midst of a protected natural forest. The building was designed by the architects Matija Bevk and Vasa Perović.

Ownership dispute

Ownership of the castle is disputed. The descendants of Prince Paul have argued that the confiscation was illegal and that the property should be returned to them. Their claim was rejected by a lower court in 2011, and the appeal was rejected by a higher court in April 2012. The claimants are still attempting to have the ruling overturned by the Supreme Court of Slovenia.Aleksandar II nema pravo na Brdo kod Kranja
Retrieved 29-01-2013.

References

Sources

*Gregor Moder et al., ''Brdo pri Kranju'' (Ljubljana: Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, 2004). *Ivan Stopar, ''Gradovi na Slovenskem'' (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1991).

External links