CASTLES OF CROATIA 2011 - VALPOVO

Valpovo – the Hilleprand-Prandau Normann-Ehrenfels Castle The castle in Valpovo, built into a medieval fortress is a recognisable medieval architectural baroque complex which gives to the town of Valpovo its specific and recognisable identity. Valpovo castle with the fortress and a vast garden is one of the most important cultural treasures of the profane architecture in north Croatia. Medieval feudal property in Valpovo exists from the 14th century. Medieval fortress of Valpovo– the fortified town (Castrum Walpo) was first mentioned in 1438. At the end of the 17th century it was already considerably damaged. In the ground plan it had a shape of an irregular elongated triangle with the high tower on its north point. The fort was surrounded by a ditch filled with water from the nearby river, and there was a wooden bridge leading to the entrance. After liberation from Turks, Valpovo came into possession of the Court in Vienna. In 1721 the Emperor Karl VI confers the property of Valpovo to Petar Antun Count Hilleprandtu von Prandau (1676 – 1767). Since then until 1945 the estate is the property of the male and female heirs of two families – Hilleprandt von Prandau (Petar Antun, Josip Ignac and Gustav) and Normann-Ehrenfels (Rudolf I and Rudolf II). By the marriage of Marijana Hilleprand, Gustav’s daughter, to Heinrich Normann-Ehrenfels Valpovo passes into possession of the family Normann. This family lives in the castle until 1945 when the nobility is abolished and the members of the family move to Austria where its heirs live also today. The castle in Valpovo was built on the remains of the south wing of the medieval fort (fortified town). That first castle was similar to today’s castle, but has not been preserved to our days since it disappeared in the fire on Old Year’s Day in 1802. The renewal of the castle already the following year meant a lively building activity since apart from the castle also many new outhouses were built south-west of it. No significant changes on the castle and economic buildings have been done since. At the end of the 19th century the castle had 62 rooms and a ground-plan surface of 4000 square meters, together with the court. Noticeable among the buildings is the storage for arms in which old and precious arms had been stored, a library with about 6000 books, a small theatre, court chapel etc. The Valpovo Castle is among rare castles whose inventory has bee mostly preserved, though not in the castle itself, but in museums and archives in Zagreb and Osijek. In the Valpovo castle and fort complex different building styles are noticeable - medieval, renaissance, baroque and classicist. The south (main entrance) facade of the castle is characterised by the central risalyth of baroque-classicist features which in the form of square spire protrudes from the truss. About 25 hectares large park with the park-forest next to Valpovo Castle is among the most precious examples of the park architecture of Croatian castles. There are two particular values of the park: first, the baroque idea of shaping the landscape of the 18th century with the star-shaped crossways in the hunter’s park (menagerie), the traces of which are still noticeable today and second - in its original form preserved landscape-park with large meadows and outlooks. The park does not show the traces of major changes and has very well preserved its original and historic look that in spite of smaller changes and inadequate maintenance has not been essentially changed. In decades after the Second World War the castle housed various institutions: the community of Valpovo, elementary school, public open college, a youth correctional facility, children’s home, museum of Valpovo region, music school and many other institutions. In 2009 the castle was given back to the heirs of the family Normann-Ehrenfels. Its future lasting purpose is still unknown. In spite of that, the castle of Valpovo has always been a recognizable mark of this landscape, the identity of a small town of Valpovo which developed in middle ages on the site of the Roman settlement Iovalia. Mladen Obad Šćitaroci Bojana Bojanić Obad Šćitaroci