Snežnik Castle ( sl, Grad Snežnik, german: Schloß Schneeberg) is a 13th-century
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
located in the southwest part of the
Lož Valley near the settlement of
Kozarišče
Kozarišče (, in older sources ''Kozaršče'', german: Kosarsche, it, Cosarsca) is a village south of Stari Trg pri Ložu in the Municipality of Loška Dolina in the Inner Carniola region of Slovenia. The area of the village extends south of t ...
in the municipality of
Loška Dolina,
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, and ...
. Its name is coincidentally identical to a
univerbation In linguistics, univerbation is the diachronic process of combining a fixed expression of several words into a new single word.
The univerbating process is epitomized in Talmy Givón's aphorism that "today's morphology is yesterday's syntax".
...
based on 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
The House of Lamberg is the name of an ancient Austrian noble family, whose members occupied significant positions within Holy Roman Empire and later in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
History
The family name first appeared in the 14th century in ...
,
Eggenberg,
Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg () is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.
Overview
The district contains the Tierpark Berlin in Friedrichsfelde, the larger of Berlin' ...
, and
Schönburg-Waldenburg
Waldenburg is a town in the district Zwickau in Saxony, Germany. The castle was owned by the House of Schönburg from 1378 until 1945. The pottery town of Waldenburg lies in the valley of the Zwickauer Mulde. The environment is characterized by fo ...
.
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 ( sl, Majnhard Snežniški, lat, Meynardus de Sneperch). The castle itself was first mentioned in 1461, as the manor of ''Sneberk''; at the time it was a possession of the
Patriarchate of Aquileia
The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an episcopal see in northeastern Italy, centred on the ancient city of Aquileia situated at the head of the Adriatic, on what is now the Italian seacoast. For many centuries it played an important part in histo ...
, with the Schnebergs as their
ministeriales
The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire.
The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...
. 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 William 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
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 id ...
appearance as well.
By marriages, the castle passed to the Scheyer family, followed by the
Pranckhs 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 ( sl, Grad Lož, german: Schloss Laas), also known as Pusti Grad ("Waste Castle"), 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 va ...
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 (, sl, Kočevsko) refers to a former German-speaking region in Carniola, a crownland of the Habsburg Empire, part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola, now in Slovenia. The region has been a county, duchy, district ...
(
Kočevje
Kočevje (; german: Gottschee; ''Göttscheab'' or ''Gətscheab'' in the local Gottscheerish dialect; it, Cocevie) is a city in the Municipality of Kočevje in southern Slovenia. It is the seat of the municipality.
Geography
The town is loc ...
).
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 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 appraisal 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
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purch ...
. The lucky winner, a
Hungarian blacksmith, took the cash, while the Lichtenbergs went on to sell the estate in 1847 to a
Viennese Viennese may refer to:
* Vienna, the capital of Austria
* Viennese people, List of people from Vienna
* Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna
* Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city
* Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance
* ...
couple named Karis, who went bankrupt shortly thereafter. The estate was purchased at auction in 1853 for 800,000 florins by the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
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
In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise alien ...
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 is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
school, opened in the castle in 1869 but closed in 1875 due to
germanophone
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also ...
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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
the estate was divided between
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and ...
and the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama ...
by the
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 (the later Yugosla ...
. Prince Herman died in 1943 at the family castle of
Hermsdorf by
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
. During World War II 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
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to priv ...
, and became a
hunting lodge reserved for important 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
Šmarata
Šmarata (, german: Sankt Margarethen, it, Santa Margherita (di Olisa)) is a village south of Stari Trg pri Ložu in the Municipality of Loška Dolina
The Municipality of Loška Dolina (; sl, Občina Loška dolina) is a municipality in Sloven ...
were incorporated into the castle's facade. The four-story building is surrounded by a
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 id ...
-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
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelate ...
and
linden tree rows, and which contain two small artificial lakes filled by Obrh and Brezno creeks.
An engraving in
Valvasor
Johann Weikhard Freiherr von Valvasor or Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor ( sl, Janez Vajkard Valvasor, ) or simply Valvasor (baptised on 28 May 1641 – September or October 1693) was a natural historian and polymath from Carniola, pr ...
's 1689
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
''The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola'' (german: Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain, sl, Slava vojvodine Kranjske) is an encyclopedia published in Nuremberg in 1689 by the polymath Johann Weikhard von Valvasor. It is the most important work on his ...
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.
Sources
Description of the castle from Zaplana.net*
ttp://www2.arnes.si/~lcokl/vanda/strani_htm/grad_sneznik.htm History of the castle
External links
Virtual excursion (Web VR) burger.si completed for the National Museum of SLovenia (2014)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sneznik Castle
Castles in Inner Carniola
Museums in Slovenia
Landscape parks in Slovenia
Cultural monuments of Slovenia
Municipality of Loška Dolina