Josipa / Jozefa Sermage de Szomszédvár

http://onecroatia.info/en/turisticke_atrakcije/sermage-ritter-manor...

[Krapinsko-zagorska županija] [Kulturna baština Hrvatske]

In the valley of the river Krapina, halfway between Bedekovčina and Zlatar Bistrica, lies Poznanovec manor, built in the second half of the eighteenth century. A tragic and despicable end for a manor that, in spite of its degradation.

History

Poznanovec was first mentioned in the sixteenth century as part of the Sutinsko property, well-known for its medieval castle and medicinal thermal spa built and arranged by Henrik Sermage and Adolf Ritter, the later owners of Poznanovec. Sutinsko was first mentioned in the thirteenth century, and in the fifteenth century; when its masters died out, it became the property of the king. In 1479 Mathias Corvinus granted Sutinsko to Juraj Golec. The memory of the Golec family was kept into the middle of the twentieth century, when a bridge near Poznanovec was called Golec Bridge. Juraj’s daughter Katarina brought Sutinsko as her dowry to Ivan Forčić, originally from Lika. In 1547, because of breach of faith, the Emperor Ferdinand I took Sutinsko away from Forčić and gave it to his cousin Ambroz Gregorijanec, owner of Medvedgrad. In the same year Forčić’s son Ivan bought back the estate the family had lost. In 1548 Poznanovec was mentioned for the first time in a deed of gift by which Ivan Forčić the younger gave his sister part of the lands. He probably built the house or farm (alodium) in Poznanovec, thus forming a separate estate.

After Forčić’s death Poznanovec reverted to the Gregorijanec family, who sold it in parts. In 1581 Stjepan Gregorijanec sold the curia in Poznanovec, in 1585 Ivan Hržić of Topusko bought from Gregorijanec a house and country seat in Poznanovec, and in 1588 Poznanovec and Sutinsko belonged to Krsto Bedeković. The owners continued to change often, and in the seventeenth century Mihajlo Selnički, Katarina Vitez, Đuro Vardinjej and others were mentioned. In 1682 Poznanovec became the property of Petar Prašinski whose family was mentioned in Croatia at the end of the 16th century, in 1593, when they were raised to the nobility. When Petar’s grand-daughter Maksimilijana Prašinski got married, Poznanovec, Sutinsko and Marija Bistrica became the property of Petar Troilo Sermage.

Today’s manor house in Poznanovec was probably begun by Petar Troilo’s son Petar Ivan, who married Countess Josipa Keglević, and finished by their son Henrik Sermage. In 1851 Count Oto Sermage sold the manor to Adolf de Ritter, who laid out the park and was an exemplary landlord. The last owners of Poznanovec were Draga Ritter nee de Cvetković and her children, Greta and Nikola. They lost their lives tragically during the Second World War.