Castles, churches, loves - The memory of the Grassalkovichs

In the first half of 2011, Hungary will hold the rotating presidency of the Union, and the now renovated riding school of Gödöllő Castle will host many ministerial meetings and expert conferences. The city of Gödöllő pays homage to the work of Antal I. Grassalkovich with a series of events of the Baroque Year and also remembers the visit of Maria Theresa 260 years earlier. In connection with these notable events, we are publishing an educational book about the life of the Grassalkovich family as the fourth volume in a joint memorial series by Aquincum and Her Majesty Publishers. The family has left behind a unique oeuvre, and they deserve to get to know them better. In the first half of the 18th century, they became friends in Vienna and Pest-Buda with a new, foreign-sounding name. The name of Antal Grassalkovich was mentioned more and more in court circles. After the Turkish conquest, as head of the Neoaquistica Commissio, he compiled the most accurate survey of the remaining goods. He mainly bought land from his growing wealth, where he built castles, mansions and churches. Thanks to its activities, we can admire the largest baroque monument complex in Hungary, the Royal Castle of Gödöllő. The modest settlement has gained world fame thanks to his work, and the style he advocates is still considered a "Gödöllő", "Grassalkovich" type in the history of architecture. The statue of Mary, found in the Besnyő-puszta, the smallest statue in the country, has made the church, which has since been raised to a basilica, an important place of pilgrimage. For almost a century, his father, son and grandson have been shaping the image of Central Hungary. Some of their works, such as the royal hill pavilion in the park of the Royal Castle in Gödöllő, a baroque theater with a backdrop system that is an integral part of the castle, are a rarity not only in Hungary but also in Europe. Among other things, they donated the land to the capital for the construction of the Hungarian National Museum. How and how did all this happen? Devoted wives were needed, in the case of Antal I, the deeply religious third wife, Terézia Klobusiczky, II. Antal's wife Anna Mária Esterházy and the III. Antal's wife, Leopoldina, also a daughter of Esterházy. We know relatively little about the private Grassalkovichs, Antal I became a widow twice, married three times, was rich but unhappy. His son expanded the family empire with a few more constructions, but his grandson had to seek refuge in Gödöllő in the second half of his life. In the time of the Grassalkovichs, many celebrities turned up in castles. The founder of the dynasty, Antal I, hosted Maria Theresa in Gödöllő, and their correspondence is now in print again. III. Antal, Emperor Francis, who was in Buda after the Congress of Vienna, III. He met Frederick and Tsar Sándor on his estate in Lőrinc. In Gödöllő, Sándor Petőfi fell in love with the daughter of the director of goods of the Grassalkovichs, Berta Mednyánszky, and István Széchenyi was a great admirer of Leopoldina Esterházy. The book also includes a reading book: poems about Maria Theresa, letters from Estéházy Széchenyi to Leopoldina, love poems for Berta Petőfi Mednyánszky and many illustrations about the people in the publication. The catalog and bibliography of the buildings erected by the Grassalkovichs concludes the richly illustrated publication.