HISTORY OF BOJNICE CASTLE
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Baroque appearance of the castle did not change significantly. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Bojnice manor was taken over by Francis V Pálffy. The unfavourable economic conditions in the country as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and the expensive lifestyle led to a significant debt on his estates. Of the children of Francis and his wife Natalie Erdődy, son John and daughter Gabriela survived to adulthood.
John Pálffy (1829 – 1908)
Ján Pálfi
(1829 – 1908)
John Pálffy was born on 12 August 1829 in Bratislava. He had a difficult childhood. His mother died when he was 16 years old. His sister Gabriela was only 12 years old at the time. Their father, otherwise a royal chamberlain, lived beyond his means, while indulging in gambling. He died seven years after his wife, leaving John with a large but indebted family fortune.
The twenty-three-year-old John was, however, the opposite of his father – he was very thrifty, and took the management and improvement of his estate very seriously. As a result, he gradually not only got rid of his debts, but also considerably improved the family property.
John Pálffy had a great fondness for travelling, to which he devoted most of his life, as well as for studying and buying valuable works of art. During his travels in Europe, he visited historical monuments, museums and auctions, gradually furnishing his palaces with imported art treasures. By the second half of the 19th century, he was already one of the most important collectors of works of art in Europe.
During his travels, Count Pálffy was also very interested in architecture. He was particularly captivated by the Gothic architecture of French castles (e.g., Amboise in the Loire basin, Pierrefonds, Carcassonne, the papal palace at Avignon) and castles in Tyrol, and early Renaissance architecture in Italy. These became the model for his Romantic rebuilding of Bojnice Castle.
Count Pálffy initially considered selling the dilapidated castle, which was in a very neglected condition. The modest furnishings of the castle showed that it had not been given proper attention for a long time and its owners had not been staying there permanently. Thanks to the favourable financial situation after 1888, Count Pálffy changed his mind and decided to invest in its substantial reconstruction. By rebuilding the castle in neo-Gothic style, the count as the last male descendant in his lineage wanted to create a monument to his aristocratic family and to himself, conjuring up thus some medieval semblance of a glorious past in the modern times of the second half of the 19th century when the up-to-then privileged status of the nobility was declining.
Hrad Pierrefonds okolo 1890, teda tak, ako ho mohol videl gróf Pálfi pri jeho cestách Francúzskom (zdroj Wikipedia/Flickr).
Count Pálffy began the actual rebuilding of Bojnice Castle in 1889, in his 60s. The architect of the neo-Gothic conversion was Joseph Hubert, originally from Bratislava, known for other important projects in Hungary. However, he was clearly just a tool in the hands of his client with a highly refined artistic taste. Count Pálffy himself drew, designed and directed all the works, sometimes directly from his foreign travels. He sent drawings, instructions, photographs or engravings of objects he wanted to use in the rebuilding to Hubert's office. According to archival material, Hubert gradually prepared a third version of the reconstruction for him, Count Pálffy made changes and notes to it as well, and changed some things along the way, on the site.
The neo-Gothic conversion lasted 22 years (1889 to 1910), and the Count himself did not live to see its completion. He died in Vienna on 2 June 1908 as a bachelor.
Unfortunately, only a small part of the large collection has been preserved, as his heirs sold most of the art objects to antique dealers after his death. The castle with the estate and the spa were sold to the Baťa company in 1939. After the Second World War, the Baťa property became the property of the state and in 1950 a museum was established in the castle.
A view of the interior of Bojnice Castle from the beginning of the 20th century (around 1910) with furniture installed by Count Ján Pálffy:
You can learn more interesting information about the count's personality and what happened to his extensive property and collections from the interesting contributions of museum worker and art historian Katarína Malečková (slovak language only):
Gróf Ján Pálffy
Aký bol Ján Pálfi? Viac o osobnosti grófa sa dozviete na blogu SNM-Múzea Bojnice.
Osud zbierky grófa Pálffyho
Čo sa udialo s rozsiahlym nehnuteľným i hnuteľným majetkom grófa po jeho smrti?
Portrét grófa Jána Pálffyho
Gróf Pálfi sa po viac ako 100 rokoch v Kanade vracia na svoje pôvodné miesto na zámku.
