Slovenska Bistrica Castle

{{Infobox | name = Slovenska Bistrica Castle | localname = Grad Slovenska Bistrica | street = Grajska 11 | town = Sl-2310 Slovenska Bistrica | telephone = 386 (0) 2 805 5350 | fax = 386 (0) 2 805 5351 | email = zavod.grad@siol.net | website = http://www.zavod-ksb.si/ANG/castle.html | managed by = Slovenska Bistrica Municipality | contacts =

Slovenska Bistrica Castle is first mentioned in 1313 as Burk Feistritz. At that time it was owned by the Habsburgs; subsequent owners included the Walsees (from 1355) and the Counts of Celje (from 1368); when the latter died out in 1456 the castle once again reverted to the Habsburgs, this time represented by the Duchy of Styria. In 1587 it was bought by Hans Vetter, who was succeeded before 1681 by the Wildensteins and in 1717 by Ignaz Maria Attems. The Attems remained in possession of the castle until 1945. After the Second World War Slovenska Bistrica Castle was nationalised and adapted for housing purposes until the end of the 1950s, when its restoration as a historic monument began.

The castle was thoroughly rebuilt by the Vettri between 1623 and 1651, when it achieved its present dimensions. The inner courtyard of a slightly trapezoid form is surrounded by four wings with towers in the corners. Towards the end of the 17th century the Wildensteins laid out a castle park with a 200 metre-long beech avenue and park statuary. The Baroque rebuilding by the Attems was concluded in 1721 with the Illusionist painting of the Chapel, stairway and Knights' Hall by Franz Ignaty Flurer - these are the only signed paintings by him in Slovene territory.

The castle's extensive museum collection was initially set up in 1985 and has since expanded to the point that it now occupies most of the castle's premises. The core of the collection consists of 14 standards belonging to Slovenska Bistrica branches of the Union of Associations of National Liberation War Veterans, the oldest of which is a pre-war Yugoslav flag.

The Roman exhibition presents the Roman road from Celeia to Poetovio, while the Pajtler exhibition presents about 1,600 specimens of fossils and minerals collected by Franc Pajtler from Pragersko, one of the biggest collections in Slovenia.

The Arko ethnological collection presents over 4,000 items from Slovenska Bistrica, covering ceramics, cottage industries such as cheesemaking, weaving, smithing and joinery, farm furnishings and equipment and hunting gear.

A Memorial Room to Pohorje fairy-tale writer Jože Tomažič (1906–1970) was opened in October 1991, and a Memorial Room to Spodnja Polskava-born writer Anton Ingolič (1907–1992) was established in June 1992.

In August 1994 a permanent exhibition of over 90 different religious books was established; this collection comprises over 450 specimens and was donated by Franc Pajtler from Pragersko. It focuses on prayer-books in Slovene but also includes religious books in German and other languages, the oldest dating from 1723.

In 1998 an exhibition of 37 specimens of rocks was organised, depicting the geological structure of the Pohorje region. A special item in this collection is cizlakite, a green stone found in Cezlak (Oplotnica) which is unique in Europe.

Also in 1998, a permanent exhibition of wines from Bistrica was opened on the ground floor of the castle. Different sorts of wine and samples are provided by 12 leading wine-growers from the region, and there is also a display of wine glasses, some of which were produced by glassworks in the Pohorje.