SMOLENICE Castle had the role – like other Small Carpathian castles – of guarding the wider region. In medieval Hungary, the Small Carpathians were a border range as the region west of the mountains was sparsely inhabited flatland with only a few military garrisons prepared to defend the kingdom.
Smolenice Castle is connected with one interesting event. On May 28, 1704, a battle took place nearby between the Habsburg army and rebels from among the Great Hungarian nobles. The rebels, led by Count Károlyi and Count Berscényi, quite easily defeated the Habsburgs’ imperial general Rotschan.
At the beginning of the 20th century the castle was a ruin. Its owner, Count Pálffy set his mind on rebuilding it and was inspired by the Kreuzenstein castle near Vienna. The rebuilding was a big event and many local people had jobs working there for many years, as did a whole colony of special craftsmen from Italy, some permanently settling in the area. During World War II the castle tower was demolished after German soldiers made a machine-gun nest in it.
In this postcard from 1925 we can see the castle in its rebuilt, most romantic form.
