Visit multinational Lendava: home of Slovenian Museum of Holocaust, first book, umbrella factory and amazing wines

In southern-eastern part of Slovenia, in the region of Prekmurje a unique town is located, which intends to become a candidate for the European Cultural Capital of Europe 2025; Lendava.

Lendava due to its geographical location, close to the border crossing with Hungary, Croatia and also Austria is a multinational town. You should start sightseeing of Lendava by visiting Vinarium Lendava Observation Tower offering view into 4 countries.

Slovenians form almost 50 % of the local population in Lendava and Hungarian form almost 40% of population.Lendava was part of the Kingdom of Hungary until 1918 and part of Hungary from 1941-1945.

Lendava used to be also a home of a Jewish community. From the 18^th century the community was increasing being mainly composed of merchants, inkeepers, distillers, mead producers, lawyers, and physicians. They played an important role in the economy of Lendava, owning a local hotel, a few pubs, and stores. Local Jews also started the first bank in Lendava. A Jewish school opened in 1850 and it was active until 1921.

The Jews of the region of Prekmurje, where the majority of Slovenian Jews lived prior to World War Two, suffered the same fate as the Hungarian Jews. Almost entire Jewish population of the Prekmurje region was deported to Auschwitz. Very few survived. After World War IImany Jews were expelled from Yugoslavia presented by the regime of Tito as ‘’ethnic Germans’’ and most of Jewish property was confiscated.

The multinational influences are seen and felt in Lendava.

The Synagogue

The synagogue in Lendava is one of only two synagogues left in Slovenia. The synagogue was built in the 18^th century and was heavily destroyed in World War II. It is now a museum which displays a permanent exhibition on the History of Jews in Lendava. It is the most important architectural artifact of the Lendava former Jewish community. In 2014 it was proclaimed the Slovenian Museum of the Holocaust.

List of Jewish inhabitants of Lendava murdered by the Nazi Germany, mostly in Auschwitz

Lendava Castle

Lendava Castle stems from the 12th century and was a property of Hungarian noble families. First of family Bánffy until the middle of the 17th century, then it was taken over by the Nádasdy family for a short period, and in the 18th century came under the management of the Eszterházy family until World War I.

The present appearance of the castle is Baroque dates from 1690–1707, following the withdrawal of the Turks from the area, when the Esterházys had it rebuilt to form an L-shaped building as a sign of their loyalty to the Emperor Leopold I.

The castle now contains a museum and a gallery. The Lendava-Lendva Gallery and Museum was established in 1972 by the Municipality of Lendava-Lendva. Its versatile archaeological, ethnological, numismatic, and visual arts collections are displayed in the castle and are mostly prepared with Hungarian partner institutions.

Till 31 October 2018 the Lendava Castle presents ‘’Creation and the Bible’’ an amazing exhibition of Marc Chagall’s works.

Glavna ulica 52

The museum manages also a museum in the center of Lendava, where the exhibition Citizenship, Typography and Umbrella Manufacturing is on display. The bourgeois class life is illustrated with a work room and a parlour of a lawyer family and with pharmacy equipment of the late 19th century. In 2015 Lendava witnessed the 100^th anniversary of pharmacy in Lendava.

In the next room the development of Lendava typography is presented. It was here where the first book was printed on the Slovenian territory in 1573. The third room presents the umbrella factory Hungária Hazai Ernyőgyár Rt., the first in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which developed in 1904 from the Béla Wortman dressmaking factory. In spite of many difficulties the umbrella manufactory stayed in operation with shorter and longer interruptions until 2001. The exhibition was prepared in collaboration with the Széchenyi National Library from Budapest.

Lendava is also a wine region.

Wine

White wine is the most common sort produced in Lendava, but in recent years some winegrowers have also begun producing red wine sorts.

Local winegrowers commonly offer Italian Riesling and Chardonnay to their visitors. In our next article we will visit a real paradise on earth: Hisa Vina: Wine house of family Cuk producing their own amazing wines on 2,5 Ha compising 27.000 wines.

If you love amazing nature, wines and home made meats check it out soon!