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Queen Elizabeth and Gödöllő

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Queen Elizabeth and Gödöllő

Queen Elizabeth and Gödöllő


 
The first time that Elizabeth visited the Gödöllő palace, which was offered as Coronation gift to Elizabeth and Francis Joseph I, was on 11 May 1867. Francis Joseph I was obliged by his coronation oath, taken in 1867, to spend regular periods of time in Hungary. To this end, the Hungarian government wished to please the royal couple by placing at their disposal not only the Castle in Buda as political headquarters, but also residences in the countryside suitable for relaxation. Of these, however, only the plan for Gödöllő came to fruition.
Count Antal Grassalkovich I (1694–1771), one of the most notable aristocrats of the 18th century, began construction of the largest Baroque palace in Hungary around 1735. After his family died out it had several owners before being bought by the Hungarian government in 1867. Following a quick reconstruction the Palace and the park were placed at the disposal of Francis Joseph and Elisabeth as a coronation gift.
The Palace had 136 rooms altogether, of which 103 were living rooms, 67 of these being for the staff. Royal suites were established in the main building, to the north and south of the ceremonial hall. Comfort rather than grandeur was the main aim. The walls of the king’s apartment were covered with yellow panelling and grey silk wallpaper. The queen’s suite was characterised by her favourite colour, violet. Both were later changed to white, red and gold. Elisabeth’s suite consisted of a salon and writing-, bed-, dressing-, and reading rooms. A spiral staircase led from the upper floor to the three-room suite on the ground floor. Next to Elisabeth’s rooms was the suite of her reader Ida Ferenczy, followed by the rooms of the royal children.
The Baroque theatre fell victim to alterations made in the royal period. It was replaced by 15 rooms. (For example, Rudolph’s rooms were brought here when Marie Valerie was born.) A building for the major-domo was erected in the south section and the coach-house was extended by further stables. The Palace was surrounded by an English landscape garden, with two swan-ponds in front of the main facade.
 
The first time the royal family visited the Palace was in the autumn of 1867. From this time on they would spend several months a year here, mainly in the spring and autumn. Gödöllő soon became a favourite spot for Elisabeth where she found refuge from the protocol in Vienna. ‘Here you can get a bit of peace, no relatives, no-one bothering you, whilst there, in Vienna, there’s the whole imperial crowd! There’s nothing to annoy or constrain me here, I can live like in a village, and I can walk or ride out on my own!’  - as Elisabeth wrote to her mother from Gödöllő.
It was, in fact, the perfect spot for all her favourite pastimes. If she sought solitude no-one disturbed her: she could read, learn languages, write or walk as she liked. As Ferenc Ripka, the royal monographer of the time put it: ‘When the locals, who adored Queen Elisabeth, caught sight of her elegant figure dressed in black, they would respectfully keep out of her way, because they knew that Her Majesty does not like impertinent curiosity.’ If she desired company, grandiose horse races, hunts, greyhound races or pigeon-shooting were arranged for her. The Hungarian equestrian elite, Count Gyula Andrássy among them, frequently paid visits here. The King did not spend much time on fun or relaxation. He was extraordinarily hard-working and his sense of duty made him work from early morning till night with short breaks for walks or meals. He also took part in hunts, mainly for shooting big game. His suite and the staircase at Gödöllő were adorned by his trophies.
The queen had always been attracted to unusual, unconventional things. She loved Gipsy music, even hosting full Gipsy bands in the Palace on a number of occasions. Much excitement and bewilderment was caused by another of her ideas: Marie Valerie had a crippled Saracen boy as a playmate. Rustimo was a gift from the Shah of Persia.
In Gödöllő, everyday life and holidays were much more casual and relaxed than in Vienna. In the autumn season, the locals celebrated the queen’s nameday (19 November) with a serenade and a torch-lit procession. Christmases were very intimate, as mentioned by Marie Valerie’s tutor, Jácint Rónay in his memoirs: ‘In the evenings they played blind man’s buff at the desire of Marie Valerie, then they got busy again, colouring and cutting out figures for the picture book the kind-hearted princess wanted to give to the little patients in the children’s hospital.’ Holidays always presented an opportunity for exercising charity. The family frequently stayed on in Gödöllő till the New Year. Another note by Rónay from 1881: ‘On New Year’s Eve, the Christmas tree was once again dressed in festive splendour. In a corner of the upper garden an artificial skating rink was set up, where the princess and her close friend, Duchess Aglája Auersperg would skate happily all day long.’
The Queen spent a total of 2663 days (7.3 years!) in Hungary, of which 2000 were spent in Buda and Gödöllő. Her last visit was from the 2nd till the 24th of October 1897. Following her death in 1898, the king visited Gödöllő much less frequently. To commemorate their beloved Queen, Hungarians have erected more than 40 monuments and established 100 memorial gardens and groves in the country. The first of these parks was the one in Gödöllő, dedicated in 1901 with a full-length statue of the queen. The town is still the number one centre of the cult of Queen Elisabeth.

 

Ildikó Faludi
 

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Sisi Experience - guided tour with Sisi

During our special guided tour, you can visit the royal apartments as a guest of “Her Majesty”, where you can learn many interesting things about the family’s everyday life in Gödöllő. “Queen Elizabeth” will reveal secrets to her guests, such as how difficult her coronation dress was, how long it took to make her hairstyle, or what her relationship was like with Gyula Andrássy and Ferenc Deák.  The program is recommended for visitors over 12 years old! Date: 13. June 14:00 English-language tour   You can buy your ticket on the spot
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Queen Elizabeth's favourite place in the Royal Palace of Gödöllő

The Royal Palace of Gödöllő, the former residence of the Grassalkovich family with its beautiful parks and vast forests, became Queen Elizabeth's favourite residence in Hungary. Nowadays the palace is a prominent place of the Elizabeth cult. Wilhelm Richter (1824-1892): Queen Elizabeth on horseback, 1870s,oil on canvas Collection of the Royal Palace Museum of Gödöllő   Elizabeth (1837–1898) was a famously good equestrian, and in the 1870s and 80s she was able to compete in the toughest pack hunts in England and Ireland. However, in addition to cross-country riding, she was also excellent in equestrianism, so it is not surprising that her favourite place in the palace of Gödöllő was the riding hall. The riding hall of the Royal Palace of Gödöllő in 1896 (photo: Mór Erdélyi) and today (photo: András Dabasi), on the wall you can see Károly Lotz's painting Ménes: Ménes Collection of the Royal Palace Museum of Gödöllő   The riding hall was built by Antal Grassalkovich I. in the southern part of the palace in the middle of the 18th century. In 1879-80, according to Elizabeth's ideas, it was rebuilt, a menage was created in a circle with four large mirrors so that the queen could see the movements of the horses accurately. The ornament of the riding hall was a large painting depicting beautiful horses in the Hungarian wilderness. Károly Lotz (1833–1904): Ménes (1880) was placed in Queen Elizabeth's riding hall in Gödöllő in the autumn of 1881. The painting – which is the deposit of the Museum of Fine Arts – Hungarian National Gallery – has recently been found, identified and restored, so it can be seen again in its original location from February 2024.   Wilhelm Richter: Flick and Flock, 1877, reproduction of an oil painting, published in Egon Caesar Conte Corti: Elizabeth's biography "Die Seltsame Frau", published in 1934 Collection of the Royal Palace Museum of Gödöllő   In the 1870s, the queen bought circus horses and learned many horse stunts from Emilie Loisset and Elise Petzold, the prosthetic equestrian of the Renz circus. Elise was often in Gödöllő, became the queen's confidant, and Elizabeth gave her one of her favourite horses, Lord Byron, as a thank you. Friedrich Kaulbach painted a painting of the equestrian and her famous horse.[1] The queen regularly held horse shows for her family members and invited guests, so the riding hall was an important place for socializing. A piano was placed in the gallery, and the incidental music of the performances was played many times by Count Mária Festetics. The queen had several trainable horses, such as "Flick" and "Flock", the beautiful white steeds, whom she brought to Gödöllő in September 1878, and they had a very spectacular feat: Elizabeth stands in the middle of the "little riding school, sugar and bread in her hands, the horses are allowed in at the same time from different sides, they gallop towards their mistress, from whom they always get something good. They stop right in front of Elizabeth. One of her fond amusements is to introduce them to strangers when the horses suddenly rush in. Viewers are terrified."[2] Excerpt from the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Exhibition, left Friedrich Kaulbach: Elise Petzold on her horse Lord Byron, on the right is Wilhelm Richter (1824–1892): Queen Elizabeth in the riding hall of Gödöllő on horse Avolo, 1876. (photo: Marianna Kaján) Collection of the Royal Palace Museum of Gödöllő Her other famous circus horse "Avolo" was painted in a special way by court painter Wilhelm Richter in 1876 in the riding hall of Gödöllő: Avolo gets down on knee, with Elizabeth sitting on a side saddle, wearing a riding dress. The famous painting was donated by reader Ida Ferenczy to the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Museum in the Buda Palace in 1908, today it is in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum and is a featured artwork of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Exhibition of Gödöllő Palace. The painting will be on display at the Palace of Versailles for the occasion of the XXXIII Olympic Games from July 2 to Nov. 3, 2024 in a temporary exhibition on horseback riding  entitled "Horse in Majesty – At the Heart of a Civilisation".                                                                        Marianna Kaján, historian-museologist   Wilhelm Richter (1824–1892): Queen Elizabeth in the riding hall of Gödöllő on horse Avolo, 1876, reproduction of an oil painting, published in Egon Caesar Conte Corti's biography Elizabeth "Die Seltsame Frau", published in 1934 Collection of the Royal Palace Museum of Gödöllő   [1] The picture decorated Elizabeth's suite in Gödöllő, nowadays it can be seen in the palace, at the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Exhibition. [2] gr. Egon Cäsar Corti, Elizabeth, p. 288.
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2025. Outdoor summer programs at the Royal Palace of Gödöllő

2025. Outdoor summer programs at the Royal Palace of Gödöllő

2025. Outdoor summer programs at the Royal Palace of Gödöllő        “Tündérkirálynő légy a párom” – operetta gala Huszka 150 / Jókai 200 / Strauss 200 Dates, time: 07.15. 20:00 Ticket price: 6.500-7.500 HUF   The first part of the gala concert features the most renowned operetta excerpts by Jenő Huszka, while the second part presents a selection from Johann Strauss’s The Gypsy Baron. A unique aspect of the evening is that the works of both composers are connected by the figure of Mór Jókai, whose literary creations inspired several of the featured pieces and whose 200th birth anniversary is also being celebrated.   TICKET         Hot Jazz Band 40 Dates, time: 07.17. 20:30 Ticket price: 6.500-7.500 HUF   Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Kossuth Prize-winning Hot Jazz Band will be the next performer at the Grassalkovich Palace in Gödöllő. The concert will offer a retrospective of the band's rich career, during which they have performed in 22 European countries, as well as in the United States and China.   TICKET       ABBA ÉS BONEY M. CONCERTSHOW Dates, time: 07.19. 20:30 Ticket price: 10.900-12.900 HUF   With us, there’s no rivalry! The greatest hits of the disco era will come to life on one stage, in one unforgettable night! The legendary songs of ABBA and Boney M. will be performed in a spectacular concert show, guaranteed to deliver an electrifying atmosphere.   TICKETS       Group'N Swing Cabaret Extravaganza Concertshow Dates, time: 08.09. 20:30 Ticket price: 6.500-7.500 HUF   Now celebrating its 19th anniversary, the Fonogram Award-winning Group’n’Swing Band – Hungary’s number one Swing & Boogie Show Band – has always held a prominent place on the Hungarian music scene. The band is honored to have earned unanimous acclaim from both the industry and the public. Their concerts are characterized by outstanding musical quality, dynamic show elements supported by high-energy dance choreographies, pure joy, and an infectious positive energy that captivates their audience.     TICKETS         Illényi Katica Concert accompanied by the Dunube Symphony Orchestra  Dates, time: 08.10 20:30 Ticket price: 13.990-15.990 HUF   On August 10th, music lovers are invited to a truly special open-air experience in the stunning gardens of the Royal Palace of Gödöllő. This time, Katica Illényi will enchant the audience accompanied by the Danube Symphony Orchestra, conducted by István Silló.   TICKETS             
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