Location
United States
48° 12' 59.5512" N, 18° 36' 14.796" E
See map: Google Maps
US
The Schoeller family bought the Levice estate in 1867 from the Esterházi family. The family of large entrepreneurs from Germany successfully operated in Germany and Austria, and later in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They owned mines, metallurgical plants, machine shops, paper mills, textiles, wagons and shares in shipyards, later they became involved in brewing, malting and became famous in the field of horse breeding and breeding. Brothers Alexander and Pavol come to Levice. The Levice estate was covered by the company Schoeller a spol. At the time of the arrival of the Schollers, Levice was a small, neglected and undeveloped town. After their departure, they were the industrial, agricultural, cultural and administrative center of the lower Pohronie. When Alexander died without descendants in 1886, the knight Gustav Schoeller, a member of the Brno branch of the family, came to Levice.
Gustáv Schoeller made a significant contribution to the history of the city. It supported education, cultural life, car and rail transport in the city, and the electrification industry developed. He enjoyed horseback riding, was a passionate hunter, and clung to his collections of art and old weapons. When he came to Levice, he used to give children sweets. His purchase vouchers for loyal employees were well known. The leftists liked him and called him "our Schoeller".
He and his wife lived in a manor house that was built in 1879. It was located in a beautiful park near the mill. The magnificent neo-baroque building burned down in 1900, and during the reconstruction, another floor was added to it according to the project of the architect Rudolf Czibulka. Schoeller's mansion stood on the site of today's flowerbed in the city park. Its interior included saloons, a picture gallery, rare furniture, a fireplace made of Italian and Swedish marble, tapestries, carved stairs, hunting trophies, etc. The impressive exterior of the manor highlighted a beautiful park full of rare trees and plants. The park, designed by Swedish landscape architect Carl Gustaf Swensson, was full of life, peacocks roamed freely, an aviary with exotic birds and an enclosure with wild animals. The charm of the park was completed by a geyser. There was also a tennis court in the park and a stud farm nearby. During the WW II, it briefly housed the headquarters of the German forces occupying the city. In 1944, the manor was damaged by a Russian bomber. The damage was not extensive, but the city's need for building materials forced people to dismantle the manor, which forever sealed its fate.
The property of the Schoeller family was confiscated shortly after the end of the Second St. war. In 1945, after 78 years, the Schoeller family ended in Levice.
Source:
Tolnai, C., Levice na starých pohľadniciach, 2006
Švoliková, M. a kolektív, Monografia mesta Levice, 2010
