Abraham (formerly Szent\u00e1brah\u00e1m; today Abrah\u00e1m, Slovakia) is a small settlement situated south of Trnava. In the immediate vicinity of the village, which today has a population of only 1,094 inhabitants, an encroaching wilderness threatens to reclaim the landscape. It is a fairy-tale forest where the dense canopy of ancient trees blocks out the sunlight. One need not be a specialist to recognize that remarkable cedars and conifers thrive here amidst the continental vegetation.<\/p>\n\n
We find ourselves in what was once a landscaped English park\u2014today a \u201ccastle forest\u201d\u2014originally conceived by landscape architects as an organic extension of the residence itself. In aristocratic culture, the country house and its designed natural environment formed an inseparable whole. The former territories of historic Hungary are also the homeland of abandoned English parks. The groves surrounding the more than three thousand noble residences once estimated[1]<\/a> to have existed across the country often originated from unified architectural and landscape designs created simultaneously with the manor house or castle. Today, many have merged with the surrounding woodland. Countless botanical treasures have already vanished in their unequal struggle against advancing native vegetation, both within and beyond Hungary\u2019s present borders.<\/p>\n\n At \u00c1brah\u00e1m, the neglected park is accompanied by an equally unfortunate residence. Hidden in the depths of the wilderness, the ruins of the former Esterh\u00e1zy residence are slowly collapsing into the earth, their decaying walls disfigured by countless graffiti. Where members of the comital household once enjoyed what was then considered an elite delicacy\u2014ice cream\u2014, the outcasts of society now seek temporary refuge. Today, only the semicircular wall of the salon overlooking the park and the scale of the remaining ruins hint that this was once a noble residence.<\/p>\n\n Two aristocratic residences once stood on the outskirts of Abraham. Both were commissioned by Count K\u00e1roly Istv\u00e1n Esterh\u00e1zy of Gal\u00e1nta (1847\u20131919), member of the House of Magnates, one of the most remarkable personalities of the Csekl\u00e9sz branch of the Esterh\u00e1zy family, a lineage notable for its many eccentric figures.<\/p>\n\n His life was rich in adventure, perhaps best illustrated by the story of his second marriage. During one of his African safaris, a boat capsized on the Nile and a noblewoman fell into the water. Ignoring the dangers of the ominous river, the count threw himself into the waves and rescued the struggling lady. Experienced readers may already anticipate the conclusion: the reward for this act of heroism was a marriage proposal accepted at the altar and a happy union blessed with children.[2]<\/a> His second wife was Mary Eveline Hamilton-Charters (1859\u20131932), and their splendid wedding was celebrated on 15 November 1882 in Ipswich,[3]<\/a> England, and at Stoke Park, the bride\u2019s family estate.[4]<\/a> In November 1907 Abraham hosted another grand celebration when the comital couple commemorated their silver wedding anniversary in the presence of numerous representatives of the British aristocracy.[5]<\/a> Amid the lavishly set tables, however, little mention was likely made of the serious family conflict that overshadowed the life of the Esterh\u00e1zy family.<\/p>\n\n K\u00e1roly Esterh\u00e1zy was not known solely for his daring hunting exploits. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he showed little interest in public affairs and was captivated instead by the world of the arts. The most important room in his residence was his studio. Having studied painting, he established a studio in Baden and enthusiastically embraced artistic innovation, including the emerging Secession movement. It was there that he met his first wife, Paula Stauber, with whom he lived until her death in 1881.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n Beside his smaller hunting lodge, built in 1883, he envisioned an extraordinary new residence inspired by Viennese Secession architecture. The building was designed by Josef Urban, one of the leading masters of the style. Urban not only prepared the architectural plans but also conceived the interior furnishings, creating an exceptionally unified work of art between 1899 and 1900.[7]<\/a> It is entirely possible that he was forced to confront every architect\u2019s nightmare: the constantly evolving ideas of an enthusiastic patron. The floral wall decorations, plant-inspired ornamentation, and the frequently dominant pale-green colour palette undoubtedly reflected the personal taste of Count K\u00e1roly. Such a private Secession-style castle was a rarity within Hungarian historicist castle architecture, though not without precedent. Another famous example, the Fernbach Castle at Babapuszta (Aleksa \u0160anti\u0107) in the B\u00e1cska region, is likewise threatened with complete destruction.<\/p>\n\n K\u00e1roly Esterh\u00e1zy intended to create an intimate home for his large family. While his three sons occupied the older hunting lodge, he lived with his wife and daughter in the upper floor of the new building. The residence also contained a billiard salon where the family and their guests undoubtedly spent many cheerful hours. Among the permanent residents of the household were Father Gyula Stengl, a monk and teacher who recorded his memories in a diary, and a Black servant who had most likely joined the count\u2019s entourage during one of his African expeditions.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n\n At the time of the castle\u2019s expansion, K\u00e1roly Esterh\u00e1zy could not yet know with certainty\u2014though he may have suspected\u2014that fortune would eventually smile upon him. Owing to the complicated provisions governing the family entail (hitbizom\u00e1ny), he would later inherit the historic Csekl\u00e9sz Castle, once the residence of Ferenc Esterh\u00e1zy, Chancellor of Queen Maria Theresa. When his elder brother, Count Ferenc Esterh\u00e1zy (1823\u20131910), died, his widow and relatives were obliged to leave the castle. Ferenc\u2019s grandson, Count Mih\u00e1ly Esterh\u00e1zy, had died four years earlier, in 1906, leaving only daughters\u2014Countesses Mary and Vera\u2014who could inherit freely disposable property but not entailed estates.<\/p>\n\n Ferenc\u2019s widow, Countess Am\u00e1lia Esterh\u00e1zy, and Mih\u00e1ly\u2019s widow, Countess Antoinette Esterh\u00e1zy, were closely related: Am\u00e1lia was Antoinette\u2019s aunt, and both originated from the R\u00e9dey family, whose own castle has likewise disappeared. Neither Countess Am\u00e1lia nor her relatives were willing to leave the Csekl\u00e9sz residence under any circumstances; indeed, they refused even to admit the lawful heir, Count K\u00e1roly Esterh\u00e1zy. The owner of the Abraham estate therefore resorted to a stratagem. One night he and several companions, armed with hunting rifles, occupied what they regarded as their rightful inheritance:<\/p>\n\n \u201cAt last I grew tired of all the endless complications. Before both God and man this entail belonged to me, and so I resolved to act. I instructed my huntsmen to dress in full uniform and await me before the entrance of the Csekl\u00e9sz castle on the fifth of September. Thus it happened. Accompanied by my son Mih\u00e1ly, Dr. Glaser, a lawyer from Pressburg, and his office manager, I travelled to Csekl\u00e9sz by automobile. We found the outer gate open, but at the sound of the motorcar the inner gate was closed before us. We stood there uncertain for several minutes, when suddenly the countess\u2019s chambermaid, out of curiosity, opened the door. The young lawyer immediately stepped forward and entered beneath the gate. The maid fled, and we marched in.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n\n But on what grounds did the relatives of the late Count Ferenc Esterh\u00e1zy\u2014Countess Am\u00e1lia, her niece Antoinette, and the latter\u2019s daughters Vera and Mary\u2014base their claim to Csekl\u00e9sz? The answer lay in the circumstances of K\u00e1roly Esterh\u00e1zy\u2019s birth, which seemed to offer the possibility that a different branch of the family might inherit the prestigious estate.<\/p>\n\n Until 1906, relations within the Esterh\u00e1zy family had been largely harmonious. After the death of Count Mih\u00e1ly, however, K\u00e1roly became administrator of the entail because his elderly brother Ferenc, then owner of Csekl\u00e9sz, no longer had any living male heirs.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n\n At that point Prince Mikl\u00f3s Esterh\u00e1zy of the Frakn\u00f3 branch, together with members of the Tata branch of the family, brought legal proceedings against him. They argued that K\u00e1roly could not eventually inherit the Csekl\u00e9sz estate because he had been born out of wedlock. His father had lived with Vilma Felber, the daughter of a Viennese jurist, before their marriage, and therefore K\u00e1roly was allegedly illegitimate.<\/p>\n\n The Royal Hungarian Lieutenancy Council, however, had already recognized the legitimacy of the younger K\u00e1roly Esterh\u00e1zy through the subsequent marriage of his parents in 1848. In its reasoning, the court established that at the time of K\u00e1roly\u2019s conception his father\u2019s first wife was already deceased, and that the child was born 212 days after the death of Baroness Ant\u00f3nia Per\u00e9nyi.[11]<\/a> Remarkably, Count K\u00e1roly remained unaware of the circumstances of his birth until the age of fifty-nine, including the fact that his half-siblings had already attempted to exclude him from inheritance through legal action when he was only five years old.[12]<\/a> The dispute was ultimately settled by the Budapest court, which ruled in K\u00e1roly\u2019s favour. In December 1911, it declared that the primary right of succession to the Senec entail\u2014and with it Csekl\u00e9sz Castle\u2014belonged to him and to his descendants.[13]<\/a><\/p>\n\n In the same year, Csekl\u00e9sz Castle was damaged by a mysterious fire. Although a former steward was suspected because of a chimney fire, it is also known that Countess Vera Esterh\u00e1zy had repeatedly threatened to burn down the residence where she had spent her youth.[14]<\/a> The system of entailed inheritance disrupted the lives of many aristocratic families. The descendants of Count Gyula Andr\u00e1ssy similarly lost their ancestral estates, since his son Tivadar had only daughters, among them the famous Countess Katalin Andr\u00e1ssy, wife of Count Mih\u00e1ly K\u00e1rolyi.<\/p>\n\n The castle complex at Abraham\u2014whose distinctive style perhaps reflected not only Count K\u00e1roly\u2019s unusual personality but also his separation from other branches of the family\u2014partially perished after the Second World War. The old castle was simply dismantled and its building materials reused during the years of hardship when such resources were desperately needed. The newer residence was altered beyond recognition and for a time housed a vocational school. After the institution moved elsewhere, the building was abandoned and gradually fell into ruin.<\/p>\n\n To accompany this article, we have reproduced a remarkable and previously unknown postcard depicting Abraham. In one corner of the image, alongside the newer residence, the older hunting lodge can still be seen\u2014a building about which almost nothing is presently known. The digitization of the postcard collection was carried out by the Hungarian Heritage Archives Foundation thanks to the generosity of a private collector.<\/p>\n\n Zsolt Podhor\u00e1nyi<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\nAn Aristocrat Who Was Both Painter and Hunter<\/h2>\n\n
Settling a Family Dispute by Force<\/h2>\n\n