History

In 1646, Rusovce came into the possession of the Counts of Zichy, who were the sole lords of the estate and village for nearly 200 years. In the second half of the 18th century, Rusovce became the country seat of the family. Both palace and garden owe their current design to the rebuilding efforts of Count Emanuel Zichy-Ferraris. From 1841 to 1846, he rebuilt the palace in Tudor style, modelled on the design of English manor houses, to please his English-born wife. The baroque garden was likewise redesigned in the modern style of an English natural landscape garden. Its unique location on an old arm of the Danube was integrated into the garden design, thereby creating a second garden area which blends into the adjacent open landscape in several places.

Among the last high-ranking owners of the palace was Crown Princess Stephanie, the widow of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolph, whose full title was “Stephanie of Belgium, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess of Saxony, Austrian and Hungarian Crown Princess and Princess of Lónyai”. In 1906, she and her second husband, the Hungarian Count Elemér Lónyai, purchased Rusovce palace and garden, where they led a quiet and harmonious life.

Another feature which became extremely well-known was the market garden for fruit and ornamental plants, which was set up in the southern part of the estate and was named “Stephaneum” after its owner.

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