The Fairytale-like Wenckheim Castle of Szabadkígyós

János György Harruckern received Kígyóspuszta from Emperor Charles III in 1720 in recognition of his service as Imperial Chief Commissary of Food Supplies and for his outstanding achievements. He later rose to the rank of baron. After his death in 1742, his son Ferenc Harruckern inherited the lands, but when he died in 1775, the male line of the family became extinct². Through inheritance proceedings, part of the estate eventually came into the possession of the Wenckheim family. Wenckheim (III) József Antal was a chamberlain, so managing the estate was not a challenge for him. Between 1808 and 1831, he had a Classicist-style manor house built as his residence, which still stands today³.

The life of the twice-widowed and childless Count Wenckheim (III) József Antal took a storybook-like turn at the age of 67 when he fell in love with Krisztina Scherz, the 22-year-old daughter of his stewardess. The elderly count’s courtship was not welcomed by the Wenckheim family, but nobody opposed the marriage more strongly than his nephew, Wenckheim (I) Károly, who lived in the Gerla Castle. Since the count had no descendants, Károly would have inherited the enormous fortune. Expressing his disapproval openly, he sent a coffin as a wedding gift with the message: “You do not need a wife, you need this.” The story may sound familiar for a reason: in his novel A Hungarian Nabob, Mór Jókai modelled the main character after Wenckheim (III) József.

A daughter was born from this unusual marriage: Krisztina Annamária Regina Wenckheim (1849–1924), who received the first names of all three of her father’s wives. However, her parents could not enjoy their long-awaited heir for long. Her mother, weakened by childbirth, died a few months later, and the count, unable to recover from yet another loss, passed away three years later. Krisztina was raised by her maternal grandmother, while the estate was managed by senior officials of the domain.

She inherited a huge estate and highly profitable lands, which gave rise to her nickname: “the richest orphan in the country”⁴. Her father had carefully arranged her education in advance, enabling her to travel throughout Europe. She spoke six languages, drew, played the piano and sang, and even served as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Elisabeth (“Sisi”)sup>5. (In 1893, Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Sisi also visited the Wenckheim family.)

In 1872, Krisztina married Frigyes (I), the son of her cousin, thereby uniting the estates of the two branches of the family. Frigyes was Chief Cupbearer of the Royal Court, chamberlain, privy councillor, and a repeatedly elected member of parliament⁶. It therefore becomes understandable why they were able to dream of and realise such a magnificent castle. The countess had two important requests for Miklós Ybl: “Everything should be harmonious, everything should be comfortable, but nothing should be identical.” She also wished that the castle should have “as many windows as there are days in a year, as many rooms as there are weeks in a year, and as many main entrances as there are seasons.”⁷ The foundation stone was laid at the beginning of June 1875. Construction took approximately four years, but the creation of the interior spaces required at least the same amount of time. Although the castle was opened in the summer of 1879, the ceremonial inauguration did not take place until 19 July 1882. The building was originally designed as a summer residence. During the winter months, the family stayed in their Budapest palace, which today houses the Ervin Szabó Library⁹.

The castle, built in the German Neo-Renaissance style, creates a truly fairytale atmosphere with its towers and its Renaissance-inspired loggia terrace. The most modern achievements of the 19th century were also incorporated into the building, including gas lighting. The marble fireplaces were probably installed mainly for decorative purposes, as they were not used for heating; instead, a hot-air heating system provided warmth throughout the castle. In addition, water was pumped from the basement to the tower by a steam engine through iron pipelines.¹⁰.