Hungarian Castles to be renovated ASAP!

Some former castles in Somogy county give a home to schools, social care homes and hotels; however, most of them are empty. Estimates suggest that 200 castles and mansions can be found in the county – some of these are privately owned, the state or the local municipality owns the other half.

Norbert Péter Kiss – archivist of the Hungarian National Archives of Somogy County – has been dealing with the history of the castles for years. Most of the documents are from the 1940s; earlier, these castles had been privately owned, while family records are rarely included in the archives.

One of the most outstanding proprietaries in the county was Somssich family, along with the noble families of Széchenyi and Zichy.

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Today, many castles are used for teaching. In Iharosberény, Somogyvár, Hetes and Balatonszemes, schools were established in the old buildings. In Mosdós, Segesd, Marcali, Tab, Vótapuszta and Gyöngyöpuszta, the former mansions are working as medical institutions.

According to sonline.hu, few castles have become state-owned, which is a disadvantageous situation as they could not be used effectively, while their conditions worsened by the passage of time.