Krumperk Castle is a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 or manor

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 located in Gorjuša

Gorjuša, Domžale

Gorjuša is a small village in the Domžale municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.Krumperk Castle lies just to the south of the settlement.- External links :*...

 near the town of Domžale

Domžale

Domžale is a municipality and city Slovenia. Domžale is known today for its flourishing small businesses, agriculture, and light industry . It is the site of the renaissance Krumperk Castle...

 in central Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

.

History

According to Valvasor

Janez Vajkard Valvasor

Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor or simply Valvasor was a Slovenian nobleman, scientist and polymath, and a fellow of the Royal Society in London.-Biography:...

, the castle was built in the late 13th century by the noble Rabensbergs from Koprivnik. The predecessor of the current castle is first mentioned in 1338 as a possession of Herkules of Krumperk, of the noble house of Kreutberg. By the 15th century, it belonged to the house of Rusbach, who in 1410 sold it to Engelhand Zellenperger under the name Turn Chraw-perg. Valvasor notes that it had once been called either Thurn unter Kreutberg or Thurn zu Kreutberg, though there is confusion as to which of these names had referred to Krumperk Castle and which to the ruin of Castle Koprivnik (Rabensberg) near Moravče

Moravce

Moravče is a settlement and a municipality in central Slovenia. Traditionally the area was part of the Upper Carniola region. The entire municipality is now included in the Central Slovenia statistical region...

.

At the end of the 16th century, the male Zellenperger line went extinct, and the castle passed by inheritance accord to the older branch of the house of Rauber, one of the most prominent noble families in 15th and 16th century Carniola, who were later elevated to baron

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...

s. The best-known member of the family was Adam von Rauber, who participated in the battle of Sisak

Battle of Sisak

The Battle of Sisak was fought on June 22, 1593, between Ottoman forces of the Bosnian governor-general, or Beylerbeyi, Hasan-paša Predojević, and forces of the Holy Roman Empire under the supreme command of the Styrian general Ruprecht von Eggenberg...

. At its height, the Krumperk lordship contained the settlements of Dob

Dob, Domžale

Dob is a village in the Domžale municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The settlement used to be part of the Krumperk lordship.- External links :*...

, Ihan

Ihan

Ihan is a settlement in the Domžale municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The settlement used to be part of the Krumperk lordship.Today it is known for its pig farm which is the largest in Slovenia.- External links :*...

, Krtina

Krtina, Domžale

Krtina is a village in the Domžale municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The settlement used to be part of the Krumperk lordship. The local church is dedicated to Saint Leonard.-External links:*...

, Brezovica

Brezovica pri Dobu

Brezovica pri Dobu is a settlement in the Domžale municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The settlement is a former part of the Krumperk lordship.- External links :*...

 and Studenec

Studenec pri Krtini

Studenec pri Krtini is a settlement in the Domžale municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The settlement used to be part of the Krumperk lordship.-External links:*...

.

The Raubers replaced the old castle with the current building in 1580. Their line eventually went extinct; the daughter of the last Baron Rauber was the mother of historian Janez Vajkard Valvasor

Janez Vajkard Valvasor

Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor or simply Valvasor was a Slovenian nobleman, scientist and polymath, and a fellow of the Royal Society in London.-Biography:...

. The next owners, in 1631, were the Rasp family, followed by the counts Thurn-Valsassina, then in 1840 the barons Rechbach, who in 1928 moved to Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 after selling the estate to its final private owner, Stanka Pogačnik, a landowner from Ruše

Ruše

Ruše is a small town and a municipality in northeastern Slovenia. It lies on the right bank of the Drava River to the west of Maribor and extends south into the Pohorje hills. The area was part of the traditional region of Lower Styria...

 near Maribor

Maribor

Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....

.

After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the castle was nationalized and stripped of its furnishings. Communist authorities converted the structure into a sanatorium

Sanatorium

A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...

 for wounded military officers; in 1953, it was given to the municipality of Domžale, which subdivided it into apartment housing. In 1985, the Krumperk holdings were partitioned; the castle went to Agrokombinat, while the estate was taken over by Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana

University of Ljubljana

The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...

, which established an equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 center.

Today, the castle is the subject of a denationalization proceeding, and is in a fairly poor state of repair. The Jamarski dom (Spelunker

Spelunker

Spelunker has several meanings.* In Caving, "spelunker" is sometimes a term for a person who explores caves.* Spelunker , a 1983 video game for various systems, including Atari and Nintendo....

s' Home) is located nearby, as are two karst

KARST

Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...

 caves, Železna jama and Babja jama. The castle meadow hosts the Krumperk Equestrian Club, sponsored by the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ljubljana.

Tales of the castle's past are collected in the book Jutro ob kresu ("Morning Beside the Bonfire") by Ivan Sivec.

Sources

• *http://www.burger.si/Domzale/GradKrumperk.html
• gremoVEN.com - Grad Krumperk