A LOOK AT THE LIFE OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE ESTATE IN RUSOVCE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Abstract

After the forced annexation of the Principality of Nitra, which was ruled by Prince Pribina, to the Principality of Moravia, a relatively powerful Great Moravian Empire was established in the Central European Danube area. After its disintegration in 906, its eastern part, the Principality of Nitra, gradually became part of the multinational Hungarian state. Although it took centuries to form, it eventually disintegrated in 1918 as well. In the history of the Hungarian state, the Slovaks have consistently played a significant role. Even Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was its capital between 1538 and 1848. It was the seat of the Hungarian parliament and all the highest state and church authorities. It was also the coronation city of the Hungarian kings. Rusovce is part of Bratislava. It is dominated by the monumental manor house, the former seat of the Lónyai family, whose last noble owners were until 1945. The wife of the Hungarian Prince Elemir Lónyai was Princess Stephanie of Belgium, the widow of the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Rudolf of Habsburg-Lorraine. The article offers a glimpse into the life of this family and also provides an insight into the operation of the Rusovce estate in the second quarter of the 20th century, as recounted by the maid of this aristocratic couple in her memoirs from 1999.