Podgrad pri Vranskem (court, manor Puštal)
Burgstall

17th century

Present mansion is a successor of a court mentioned in 14th and 15th century, but Oton of Kunšperk from Stopnik already in 1257 imparted two estates near village villa Purch to monastery from Gornji Grad. The meaning of the word villa is village and the meaning of the word Purch is castle. In 1341 hof zu Purch pei Vrench - near Vransko, is mentioned. Monastery of Gornji Grad which held estates here, subject to office in Volog, imparted it to Rudolf Vajst and in 1376 his son Rudlein got it in lease. At the time the court is mentioned as Podgrad for the first time. The word has the same meaning as the German word Burgstall and proves old fortified continuity of the location. It's the court which is later in 1426 mentioned in land register of Gornji Grad as Curia zu Podgor and in 1431 as hoff Podgradt in Vranczker pharr. In 1436 and in 1456 are mentioned estates which Gašper Vajst leased near Vransko from Counts of Celje and later from provincial prince, but Podgrad is was among them, but Eberhard Pauer from Ig in 1432 changed his feudal court Podgrad in Gornji Grad for some other estates and after it went to lease to Mihael Weltz. In 1483 the court was a posession of Andrej Freisteiner and his wife Magdalena. In 1536 bishop of Ljubljana Krištof Ravbar, lord of Gornji Grad, changed court near Vransko, located under the chapel with defence walls of St.Hieronim - den Hof zu Fraintzkh vnndter sanndt Iheronimus thaber Cappeln, gelegen which was once a property of one Golob, with his brother-in-law Friderikom Rebrški (von Rechberg), who was at the time manager of Gornji Grad, for two farms. In 1542 the court's value was estimated to be 50 Pounds - Geschatz purgstall, so yetzo ganz ödt vnd nichts peilhe hat 50 Pfd. dl. and its provincial court-of-law to 220 Pounds. The court was severely desolated at the time.
In 1652 J.F. count Schrottenbach sold noblemen residence - Edl Sitz Purgstall to Joh. Karlu Sandbauer, later ennobled v. Samburg. Its following owners were: in 1681 his daughter Suzana Aptaltrer, in 1726 Marija A. Strassberg, in 1737 her nephew J. L. noble Hohenwart, in 1781 Maksimilijana noble Renzenberg, née noble Brandenau, in 1792 Peter F. Hillebrand followed by his widow Jožefa, remaried Perše, in 1801 Cecilija Talničer, in 1807 Marija, widowed Skubic and remaried Pečak, followed by Jožef and then his brother Franc Skubic, in 1827 Matija Perko, followed by his son Anton Vincenc Perko who sold the estate in 1846 to Nepomuk Gustav baron Wittenbach, Wittenbach's successors until 1916, then Peter Majduč whose property was until the last war. Right after occupation the castle building, which was under reconstruction at the time, seized by Germans. Until the 1990s there were still apartments in the manor.

The manor is currently uninhabited, some of its rooms are arranged for various purpose, also basement is in use. The thing that most attracts people to the manor is a wellspring from underground cave and few centuries old linden tree on the courtyard.

Literature:
Stopar, Ivan, Dr.: "Grajske stavbe v vzhodni Sloveniji - Spodnja Savinjska dolina", Založba Park, Ljubljana, 1992
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GPS coordinates:
N 46° 14.767' E 14° 56.450'

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Manor is built on a ground plan in a shape of letter L and in its current form origins to the beginning of the 19th century
The building is two-storeyed with vivid ground floor, covered with steep roof
Probably not earlier than at the beginning of the 19th century a new residential wing was rectangularly leaned on the original building on the west side and at the same time the architectural parts were adapted to the new style and thus the building was formatively unified
The windows in the floors have classicistic triangular profiled foreheads, resting on consoles
Classicistic rustic entrance portal leading to the entrance vaulted hall
Remains of the walls at the north-western wing; I doubt that these are the remains of the foundations of rectangular turret because I.Stopar states that the turrets were located on the narrower eastern side
The wall of north-western wing
The wall of north-eastern wing
South-eastern wall of north-eastern wing
In the ground floor a window of sandstone was preserved with skimmed edges which approximately dates to 16th century, most likely its second half, when the building had to be totally reconstructed considered its long desolation
Only basement rooms are vaulted in the old part of the ground floor
Rocky ground can be seen, on which the manor was built
Hallway in the western wing is also arched
Constructed Baroque outbuilding is located near the manor, surrounded with the remaining of the park with numerous trees but without exotic species.
In the middle of the courtyard a many centuries old linden tree is standing
Near the manor a springwell of Pograjščica brook from the underground cavern
Podgrad manor on colored lithography from Old Kaiser's suite, around 1830


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