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History
The beginnings of Červený Kameň Castle date back to the first half of the 13th century. Its history began to be written when the Czech queen-widow Constance of Hungary had a castle built on her property before 1240, which became known as the Red Stone (German Rothenstein, Hungarian Vöröskő) or Beaver Castle (German Bibersburg).

Red Stone Castle

The beginnings of Červený Kameň Castle date back to the first half of the 13th century. Its history began to be written when the Czech queen-widow Constance of Hungary had a castle built on her property before 1240, which became known as the Red Stone (German Rothenstein, Hungarian Vöröskő) or Beaver Castle (German Bibersburg).

At first, the castle was a royal property, later as its owner, several important Hungarian aristocratic families took turns, including Matúš Čák Trenčiansky, the lords of Svätý Jur and Pezinok, Zápoľské or Turzovci.
The Turzovci acquired the castle together with the manor from Queen Mary of Habsburg, the wife of King Louis II of Hungary. Jagiello.
The most important aristocratic families affected the castle's history, which gradually became its owners: the German Fuggers and the Hungarian Pálfi family.
The Fuggers acquired possession of the castle from their business partners, the Turzovs. The Červenokamenské estate with a Gothic castle thus became the property of one of the richest merchant families in Europe at that time.
It was headed by Anton Fugger, an educated, very wealthy and capable businessman from Augsburg in southern Germany, who moved confidently in the environment of Renaissance Europe. He decided to use the strategic location of the Red Stone near Vienna and Bratislava and turn the old Gothic castle into a safe warehouse for goods that his family traded throughout Europe.

He invested a lot of his own time and funds to rebuild the medieval castle into a Renaissance fortress. The old castle was gradually demolished from 1537 and in its place grew four defensive bastions connected by defensive walls and one residential wing. This created a modern Renaissance fortress, whose architecture used the most modern knowledge of the time and was adapted to effectively defend everything that the fortress hid in large storage areas / cellars.
The Turkish danger hanging over the Kingdom of Hungary and the whole of Central Europe caused the Fugger business intentions in this part of Europe to gradually weaken until the family decided to sell the Red Stone.

Among several interested in buying the castle and manor, the young Baron Nicholas II won. Pálfi, (who won the heart of the young Maria Magdalena Fugger, daughter of Marek Fugger, granddaughter of the aforementioned Anton Fugger) and by 1588 became the owner of the entire estate.
Descendants of Nicholas and Mary Magdalene retained the manor until 1945.
The Pálfi family rebuilt the castle several times: in the second half of the 16th century, the Fugger fortress was Nicholas II. Pálfim converted into a family seat, a century later the castle was rebuilt by Nicholas IV. Pálfi for himself and his wife Mária Eleonóra Harrachová in the early Baroque style and in the second half of the 18th century the castle was modernized and expanded by Rudolf Pálfi and his wife Mária Eleonóra Kaunitz-Rietbergová. In the later period, there were no major construction interventions that would significantly change the appearance of the castle building. The last member of the Pálfi family left the castle in 1945 and four years later the castle was declared a state cultural property.

HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM
The history of the museum at Červený Kameň Castle begins shortly after the last owner left abroad. Karol Pálfi left the castle in March 1945 - before the arrival of the advancing Red Army, he left for Austria with his mother, who lived in the castle with him.
The castle was already considered a building of great monument value during the First Republic, and since the beginning of the 20th century, part of the castle's representative premises has been accessible during Sundays and holidays to those interested in visiting the castle. The Pálfi family thus made part of the premises they used available to the public, but the private living quarters, of course, remained hidden from the visitor's eye.

After the Second World War, the care of monuments was taken over by the National Cultural Commission, which was established in 1946. Its task was to concentrate rare furniture, objects of fine and applied arts, historical libraries and aristocratic archives from buildings abandoned by former owners and often freely. accessible.
In 1946, torsos of confiscated interior equipment from other former aristocratic residences of the West Slovak region began to be collected in the premises of Červený Kameň Castle, and the necessary repairs of the castle building gradually began.
On October 22, 1949, the castle was opened to the public for cultural purposes, and on December 24, 1949, it was declared a national cultural property together with 13 other buildings.
In the meantime, valuable art objects from 31 castle buildings and 2 monasteries were concentrated on the castle, which formed the basis of today's museum collections. In this first phase, which lasted until 1960, the castle underwent several minor or major reconstructions, the aim of which was to maintain the operability of the museum. At the same time, the restoration of the collections, especially items from the furniture and painting collection, took place intensively.

In 1960, the then Červený Kameň State Castle came under the administration of the Regional National Committee in Bratislava. In 1967, the name was changed to the West Slovak Museum of Arts and Crafts Červený Kameň, which meant the definitive consolidation of the castle's status as a museum with unique collections.
In 1970, the status of the museum changed again and the museum gained a nationwide scope under the name of the Red Stone Museum as a specialized historical museum documenting the way of living and the life of the nobility.
In 1970, the castle was declared a national cultural monument.
The gradually deteriorating static situation of the castle palace required a general reconstruction of the building and the adjacent area associated with the monumental restoration of the complex, which began in 1976.
Reconstruction work on the castle palace was completed in 1998.

Since 1979 until today (with a short break), the Červený Kameň Museum has been a part of the Slovak National Museum as one of its specialized units, while the focus of the museum has not changed.
His permanent exhibition, the last part of which was opened in 1997, is focused on the culture of nobility housing.
The museum regularly lends its collections to exhibitions at home and abroad and, of course, makes them available to visitors in the form of exhibitions at the castle. And to this day, he continues with minor reconstruction and restoration work in the castle palace and fortifications.

Additional information

Transport: By foot, By bike, By car, By bus
Parking: Free parking nearby

Accepted payments: Cash
Languages: Slovak, English

Suitable for: Families with childrens, Elderly, Cyclists, Young, Adults
Season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Updated on: 22.6.2023

Opening hours

Weather

may
monday - friday:
09:30 - 15:30
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú o 9.30, 11.30, 13.30 a 15.30 hod.
may
saturday - sunday:
09:00 - 17:00
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú každú celú hodinu.
june - september
monday - sunday:
09:00 - 17:00
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú každú celú hodinu.
january - april
tuesday - sunday:
09:30 - 15:30
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú o 9.30, 11.30, 13.30 a 15.30 hod.,
october - december
tuesday - sunday:
09:30 - 15:30
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú o 9.30, 11.30, 13.30 a 15.30 hod., okrem 24., 25., 26. decembra a 1. januára, kedy je celé múzeum zatvorené.
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Opening hours

Weather

may
monday - friday:
09:30 - 15:30
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú o 9.30, 11.30, 13.30 a 15.30 hod.
may
saturday - sunday:
09:00 - 17:00
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú každú celú hodinu.
june - september
monday - sunday:
09:00 - 17:00
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú každú celú hodinu.
january - april
tuesday - sunday:
09:30 - 15:30
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú o 9.30, 11.30, 13.30 a 15.30 hod.,
october - december
tuesday - sunday:
09:30 - 15:30
Prehliadky pre vopred neobjednaných návštevníkov v slovenskom jazyku začínajú o 9.30, 11.30, 13.30 a 15.30 hod., okrem 24., 25., 26. decembra a 1. januára, kedy je celé múzeum zatvorené.


Contact

Phone: +421 33 690 5803
Red Stone Castle
Hrad Červený Kameň
900 89  Častá
Region: Bratislavský
District: Pezinok
Area: Trnavsko, Microregion Červený kameň
 48.391819, 17.335496

Altitude: 329 m

Hrad Červený Kameň
900 89  Častá

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