CASTLES OF CROATIA - Feštetić Castle in Pribislavec

FEŠTETIĆ, PRIBISLAVEC – old Zrinski Palace and the new Feštetić Castle Pribislavec, a property that belonged to the nobility with headquarters in Čakovec, is located three kilometers east of Čakovec. The owners are the same as the owners of the Čakovec estate – the Ernušt family (1473-1541), Zrinski (1546-1670), Althan (1719-1791) and Feštetić (1791-1923). There was an old castle in an elevated position, which is mentioned in a text from 1752 from the era of the Counts of Althan. The smaller castle supposedly existed at the time of reign of the Zrinski family as the seat of Majur. Today's castle was built in the middle of the 19th century by Count Juraj Feštetić, a descendant of the old noble family Feštetić (hun. Festetics), originating in Turopolje, southeast of Zagreb. King Ferdinand II gave them the title of nobility and the coat of arms in 1625. Family members owned estates in different places of the Habsburg Monarchy. Their influence in southwest Hungary, where they owned the Kesthely Castle, was strong. Feštetić family gave up investing in the renovation of the castle in Čakovec and from 1850 to 1870 they built a new castle in Pribislavec. The castle was built in the neo-Gothic style with carved stones, with accompanying economic buildings and a park. It is a one-story castle with a U-layout with an attached Neo-Gothic tower, prominent oriel window, high windows and neo-Gothic decorations on the facades. They lived in the castle until 1918 when the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. There is a coat of arms of the Feštetić family on the castle, which is well-known by stork or heron. Emperor and king Franz Joseph I visited the castle twice, in 1887 and in 1896. The castle was destroyed and robbed in 1918 and 1941, when the roof burned down, but was restored in 1944. A thorough and lengthy renovation for educational purposes lasted from 1946 to 1968. A primary school was located in the castle from 1952 to 2020, when it was moved to another building. Međimurje County – the new owner of the castle – started to prepare project documentation for the renovation and conversion of the castle into a heritage hotel with accompanying cultural content.