Grassalkovich Mansion (Hatvan)

The town was invaded by Ferenc II Rákóczi in 1703, who forced its citizens to strengthen it, in order to form it into a military center. By 1715, Hatvan was one of Heves county’s six cities in which most members of the nobiles armales could be found. They were those soldiers and veterans who were given titles but never owned lands. In 1723, Count Gundaker Thomas Starhemberg became the lord of Hatvan and its surrounding territories. The former Hatvan Castle was probably destroyed during this era. From 1746 to 1841, the city belonged to Antal Grassalkovich I and his family. He ordered the building of the nowadays Grassalkovich Mansion and the Perish in the mid 18th century.

Antal Grassalkovich I made several architects to build this so-called castle in two separate parts. In 1754, the central part was built by Ignác Oraschek, while some others (including the balcony) were designed by András Mayerhoffer. Later, in 1763, two wings were added to the original building according to the plans of József Jung.

The central part and the eastern wing is located at the place of a former lodging house which was previously built at the beginning of the 18th century by Count Tamás Stahremberg Gundacker and was created with the use of some parts of the former building. As well as using the above-mentioned parts, the architects also used the ruins of the old Hatvan Castle.

The mansion was later owned by the family called Hatvany-Deutsch. They were the ones who added those neo-baroque stuccoes which can be seen in the stairway.

Most of the interior parts were destroyed, stolen and damaged by the soldiers during the Second World War and the local citizens during the first couple of decades after it. As a result, it was renovated and reconstructed a couple of times. The area of the former park was replaced by a student’s hostel, a hospital and even a building estate. By the time it was declared to be endangered in 1979, only a few hundred square meters were left out of the park.

After the renovation of the left wing, it became the home of the Grassalkovich House of Culture in the mid 1980s. Between 1996 and 2001, the posterior parts of the mansion were rebuilt and the roofing was replaced. In accordance with a 2012 decision, a hunting museum [1][2] will soon to be added to the mansion which will represent the stock of game and the fish species of the historical Hungary. After the finishing of the reconstruction in 2014, the visitors will be able to have a look at the habitat and living-place of these species and also at the development of hunting, fishing and forestry.