Strmol Mansion declared Unique Castle of the Year

JGZ Brdo, the state-owned company managing the mansion along with other high-level protocol venues, said Strmol had impressed international experts, who looked at the level of service, design and inclusion of local content offered by the competing European castles.

Strmol, located 30 km north of Ljubljana, is one of the oldest and best preserved castles in the country and is considered a cultural monument of national importance.

According to JGZ Brdo, Strmol is one of only two Slovenian castles with original equipment.

The mansion's last owners before the estate was nationalized after WWII were Rado and Ksenija Hribar, wealthy industrialists, who often invited the Slovenian elite to social events there.

The Hribars owned the successful Šumi candy producer and weaver Pletenina, each one of key players in their respective markets in the former Yugoslavia. Rado Hribar was also a banker and arts collector.

The Hribars were accused of collaborating with the occupying forces in WWII, even though Hribar was known to have financed the Partisan resistance movement throughout the war. The pair were executed by the then security intelligence forces in January 1944.

Their story inspired the award-winning novel "To noč sem jo videl" (I Saw Her That Night) by acclaimed Slovenian author Drago Jančar.