The castle of Mailáth is located in Donji Miholjac. It is considered one of the best preserved castles in Croatia.
The castle was built from 1903 to 1906 for the Hungarian family Mailáth, next to the former baroque castle Prandau on the first floor with which it forms a unique ensemble. The architect of the castle is István Möller. There is a park next to the castle.
The Donji Miholjac manor was founded in 1831 and was owned by the Hilleprand von Prandau family of Valpovo. Prandau's daughter Stefanija married the Hungarian count Georg Mailáth and Donji Miholjac therefore belonged to the counts Mailáth von Székhely.
The castle has a rectangular floor plan with a central corridor with rooms lined up on both sides. In the middle is a large lobby. The entire castle is distinguished with rich neo-Gothic decorations, with elements of Tudor style. Rich details have been preserved: decorative woodwork, staircase railings, ceiling and floor coverings, stucco and built-in closets, which are only part of the old equipment in about fifty rooms. The castle was decorated with Mailáth trophies from Slavonia and trips to Africa and Asia.
Today, Prandau Castle houses the Surveying and Mapping Authority and the interior cannot be visited by tourists, while Mailáth Castle houses the offices of the municipal administration and the land registry.
Dvorac Mailáth History
The old castle, one of the first larger buildings in Donji Miholjac, was built in 1818 for the aristocratic family Prandau. The building was built in the late Baroque style and was the first to be covered entirely with tiles. It has two halls, fourteen rooms and several kitchens and pantries. The construction of the new castle began in 1903 after the visit of Emperor Franz Joseph to Donji Miholjac. The administrator of the manor of Miholjac, Count Ladislav Mailath built it in the English Tudor style, which is abundant with numerous towers, mansard windows and large terraces and balconies.
The building has 50 rooms with about 3,500 square meters of usable space. The interior was decorated with the count's hunting trophies from his travels in Asia and Africa. The ground floor was designed for daily living, this is where the winter and summer dining room, music room, ballroom, library and castle office rooms were located. The castle had its own power source, water supply system and central heating with a combination of tile stoves and open fireplaces. In 1930, the count sold the castle and property to the Schlesinger family, who remained owners until 1941, when they left the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in flight before the fascist occupation. Today, the castle is the seat of the government of the town of Donji Miholjac.