History of the Ivánka Castle

 

The Ivánka family was an old proprietor of the village. The present-day Ivánka Mansion was built on the "Kissor" (Little Road) in the second half of the 20th century, in classicistic style. In front of the northern entrance of the one-storey building with a plain ceiling stands an open arched portico. The arch in front of the main gate is bordered by several arches with half-columns decorated with balusters at the bottom and ending in circular segments. Above the protruding hall in the triangular peak there are two rounded windows and the family crest. The building´s great hall with its polygonal projection is situated in the south. After nationalization, the building was used by the town as a warehouse, community centre, kindergarten, library, doctor´s office and official apartment. At present, it serves as the educational centre of the Hungarian Scout Association in Slovakia (SZMCS-ZSMN).

 

Politician, poet, newspaper editor and agricultural writer.

He was born to a landowning family in 12 January 1855. His parents were Imre Ivánka Jr. and Petronella Nedeczky. He studied in Tápiószentmárton (in present Hungary) and Banská Štiavnica (in present Slovakia) and made the maturity school leaving exam. He attended law-school in Budapest. Thereafter, he took the land over and farmed in Plášťovce. Meanwhile, he lived a very busy life – he participated on county assemblies, co-organized agricultural and cultural movements, published in county and national newspapers, wrote poems, plays, an opera, articles on economy etc. His poems were published in a volume of poetry. He edited the Hungarian newspapers "Honti Közlöny" and "Honti Ellenzék".

In 1885, he married Gizella Nedeczky from Nedecze. They had an only daughter – Ila. He played a crucial role in the public life of Hont County. He was one of the organizers of the Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Hont County, worked in the Agricultural Association of Hont County and also helped in the redaction of the Association´s almanac. Since 1913, he has been lord-lieutenant in the towns of Banská Štiavnica and Banská Belá. After the Treaty of Trianon, he was accused of irredentism and before his arrest in 27 December 1919, he shot himself. At present, he rests in the Ivánka family vault in the evangelic side of the Gárdonyi Cemetery in his home village. However, his wife and daughter were buried in the Cemetery of Šípka also known as the Great Cemetery. Members of the Hungarian Scout Association in Slovakia (SZMCS-ZSMN) commemorate the last lord-lieutenant of Hont County every year. Local adult and elder scouts named their clubs after him. In 2013, the SZMCS-ZSMN placed a decorated memorial cross in his memory in the Ivánka Castle´s courtyard.

 

It sits on the building´s facade, its content and colours had been forgotten long ago. Thanks to the thorough research work of our scout leaders, we now know that the right side of the coat of arms was the Nedeczky family crest and the left side the newer Ivánka family crest. This was the basis of the István Ivánka family crest placed on the building. The coat of arms can be seen in the Castle´s courtyard in its particular research phases.