"Wolfger came from Germany with Henrik, his younger brother - both counts of Hainburg - and three hundred knights in armour. Prince Géza gave them the hill of Küszén and the island beside Győr as their eternal dwellings, where he built a castle, and also had a monastery constructed on that hill, where he is buried.
It is from them that the Héder clan is originated."
Historical background
This is how the Héder clan appears on the pages of the chronicles. The denominator of the village, Bailiff Héder became the bailiff of Moson County in 1146 then he held the office of court judge in the court of King Géza II. Dezső was a famous member of the family, who changed clothes with King Charles Robert thereby sacrificing himself and saving the king's life in 1338 during the military campaign led to Wallachia. Their successors also held high offices. The family gave the country a whole row of secular and ecclesiastic dignitaries of whom János bishop of Győr and László bishop of Eger represent those who rose to the highest rank. Lőrinc, King Sigismund's last palatine stands out among the royal office-bearers.
In 1658 at the death of Lőrinc, the Héderváry family was left without a masculin heir. Emperor and King Leopold I. consented to approving the inheritance right of Lőrinc's sister, Katalin Héderváry (already called Mrs. Viczay at that time). They combined the two crests and took on the name Viczay-Héderváry. In 1873 the Viczay family also died out and the successor again came from the female side. Károly Khuen merged the crests and took on the name Khuen-Héderváry. The estate used to belong to them up until 1945.
The history of the castle
Presumably Knight Héder already had had a castle built in the middle of the 12th Century, which had probably been made of wood and had stood on the so called "Jewish Hill" rising at the end of the recent castle park. The edifice itself had been destroyed during the Tartar invasion. Afterwards, at the initiative of King Béla IV, castles and keeps were built in the country one after the other. In 1521 Ferenc Héderváry lost the estate due to disloyalty but later on the proprietary rights of the estate reverted to János Héderváry, who had the fortified castle reconstructed in Renaissance style. It received its recent Baroque form in the second half of the 18th Century, then later on, in the 19th Century Károly Khuen-Héderváry applied the signs of Romantic style but the former Baroque exterior was soon restored.
The English park surrounding the castle was established under the personal direction of the Englishman Bernard Petri, who also introduced exotic trees here like the Chinese gingko tree and the American magnolia.
The oldest part of the castle of Hédervár can be traced back to the 13th Century. This is the hexagonal tower on the South-Eastern side with the thickest walls and the largest area, which probably used to be a freestanding edifice. In the Gothic, then in the Renaissance period the keep was enlarged with new parts. Demolished and rebuilt in 1534, the castle was also re-shaped in 1658. It received its Baroque form - as it is seen today - in the second half of the 18th Century.
In the 19th Century, Károly Khuen-Héderváry had it rebuilt in Romantic style but its former Baroque façade was restored very soon.
The castle has three towers. According to the tradition, the building stood at the section point of three counties: Győr, Pozsony and Moson so each tower was located on the territory of a different county. The only truth in this story is that at one time, the frontier of Győr County and Pozsony County lied at Hédervár but Moson County had never reached that far. The tradition could rather derive from the fact that the Héderváry family had large estates in all three counties.
Due to the "land" reform of 1945, the counts of Hédervár were dispossessed of their property, although at that time they themselves had already not lived off the land. By 1947 a folk boarding school was organised in the castle, where children from the neighbouring villages and farms could attend primary school. From 1983 it operated as an artists' retreat house.
Between 2002 and 2004 the castle was restored with lot of passion, during which the marvellous rooms, suites, bathrooms and salons were renovated in period atmosphere while the highest-standard conveniences were also installed. In spring 2004 the four star Héderváry Castle opened its doors. The hotel offers an ideal location for organising weddings and conferences but it is also very popular with tourists due to its cachet, its fabulous rooms and well-known gourmet restaurant.
