In the course of centuries, hundreds of castles and manor houses were built in Slovenia owned by secular and ecclesiastical nobility of high and low status, as well as farmers, mayors and other townspeople, merchants, other entrepreneurs etc. Each generation added furnishings of its own age. Surviving inventories and pictorial sources demonstrate that, much the same as in town houses, the furniture accumulating in castles varied in provenance and price brackets. Castles were always tied to their wider environment. They were considered home not only by their owners but also their relatives and the live-in staff. Since they served as seats of various public services, castles and manors also had to designate a few official and semi-official rooms of a formal setting, as well as lodgings for clerks, the clergy, and soldiers. In the countryside, it was therefore not so much the tradition-bound churches and monasteries or market towns, but castles, with their furnishings and grounds that reflected the level of economic vitality, overall enlightenment and creativity of a specific region.
The furnishings of the Rajhenburg Castle have not survived. Its restoration prompted us make use of its spacious chambers to set upa a permanent exhibition which could accommodate several pieces from four other Slovenian castles, located in Dolenjska, Štajerska and Prekmurje. In addition to enjoying the aesthetics of refined shapes and ornaments of the furniture, the visitors can also learn a great deal about the settings for which it was made, and its makers and owners.
Dr. Maja Lozar Štamcar,
Museum Councillor
Author of the Exibition
National Museum of Slovenia
Photographs; Nina Sotelšek, KDK, Krško Town Museum
