Castelul Degenfeld, Cuci/Degenfeld-kastély, Kutyfalva/Degenfeld Castle, Cuci

Degenfeld Castle, Cuci

National Monument Number:
MS-II-a-B-15642
Address:
Cuci commune, village of Cuci
Dated to:
19th century
Ownership:
private property

The construction of the first castle in Cuci/Kutyfalva, was commissioned by count Pekry Lőrinc, a general of the Kuruc rebels, and his wife, baroness Kata Szidónia, who was the first Hungarian woman to become a poet in the baroque age. The stones of this castle were most probably used in the construction of the first Degenfeld Castle in the 19th century, though it was more of a mansion at the time.

The construction of this second castle was commissioned by count Degenfeld Miksa Kristóf. At the beginning of the 20th century, his descendant, Degenfeld Lajos, extended the castle with two wings. The neoclassicist one-storey castle is symmetrical in its composition, and is fitted with a portico at its centerline, complete with a tympanum on top. Through the portico, one would arrive to the grand salon, and from there to the smoking room, the lounge and the guest-chambers. The cast-iron coat of arms that can be seen on the castle to this day was hidden by a local blacksmith during communism, and later bought back from him by the Degenfeld family.

The castle was used as a granary by the production cooperative, until a large flood occurred in the 1970’s. After that, the mayor’s office, the library and even the police department were all moved into the castle. A large brick water-tower supplied the castle with water. Two greenhouses and a beautiful dendrological park were also once on the castle’s grounds. Property status: ownership of the castle has been restored to the Degenfeld family.