Beethoven in Hungary
Hungary has always been a center of art in Europe. Martonvásár, located 35 kilometers from Budapest, offers a real treat for music and nature lovers.
The history of Martonvásár and the Brunszvik family are inseparable. Martonvásár was already inhabited two or three hundred years earlier, but it was depopulated during the Turkish era. Later, it came into the possession of the Beniczky family, Sándor Beniczky. Antal Brunszvik Sr. received the title of Count and the Martonvásár estate from Maria Theresa. After his death in 1783, his estates were divided among his children. Alsókorompa went to the younger son, József Brunswick (the future chamberlain and judge royal), and Martonvásár went to Antal Brunswick, where his son, Ferenc, later built the Brunszvik Mansion.
In 1785, when the estate was still owned by the Beniczky family, the part of the mansion that was a single-story Baroque manor house was built. During the construction of the mansion, the church was on the opposite side. In the 1820s, Ferenc Brunszvik had a floor added to the mansion and remodeled it in a neoclassical style. His son, Géza Brunszvik, had the mansion rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. The estate and mansion have seen several owners, including a Habsburg Archduke and Antal Dreher, known as the “Beer King.”
Since 1953, it has been under the authority of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Today, the mansion houses a Beethoven Memorial Museum, a nature conservation museum, and a school museum.
Beethoven, as the piano teacher of the Brunszvik daughters, visited the mansion several times. Beethoven did not like to teach. He believed that those who could not compose should teach. But he made an exception for the girls. Beethoven spent 16 days with the girls. He visited Martonvásár three times until 1808. In 1806, he completed the Appassionata here.
The 70-hectare English garden can also be visited. A small island was created by damming the water of the Szent László stream that flows through the park. Alder and dwarf almond trees were planted in the garden, as well as exotic tree species such as cedars, swamp cypress, and plane trees. The restoration of the park, which suffered severe damage during and after World War II, began in 1949. The English garden was declared a nature reserve in 1953. The area is maintained by the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Beethoven’s statue was erected on the island in the mansion park on the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death.
In addition to a pleasant short drive, the traveler can recharge in a huge park surrounding a beautiful mansion building.
Lake Velence is close to Martonvásár, which offers a number of other attractions.