Damaskin–Dunđerski Castle

The Damaskins were a prominent noble family from today’s Romania, from the village of Nemet (Németh). The family carried the title “de Németh” and received nobility in 1799. They had purchased land around Nemet (now Beregsău Mic) in 1788, between Jimbolia and Timișoara, where their older castle, Konak Damaskin, is preserved today, though in very poor condition and closed.

The first noble, Stefan (later known as Ljubomir Stevan Damaskin de Nemet or István), bought the village of Hajdučica in 1800. In 1809 he settled the first serfs on his estate, who helped build the first castle before 1824. The Damaskins were distantly related to the Danijel family of nearby Konak.

In 1890, Stevan Damaskin’s descendant sold the estate to Lazar Dunđerski for 670,000 ducats. Dunđerski remodeled the old castle, creating the current structure in 1901 while retaining the classical symmetrical design. The castle passed by inheritance to Olga Dunđerski, who married Belgrade industrialist Jovan Jovanović and built a church in the village. Just before the war, the castle belonged to Belgrade mayor Vlada Ilić, her son-in-law.

After World War II, the castle was nationalized, used by “Agrobanat” and PDP “Hajdučica,” and eventually sold and lavishly restored.

A legend related to the castle, recorded by Milan Belegišanin in Stone in the Wheat – Castles and Palaces of Vojvodina, tells of the painter Jatan, invited to paint for the Dunđerski castle salon. He dreamed of Hajdučica Lake, which promised him endless inspiration in exchange for all his future dreams and those of two generations of descendants. The painter created wondrous artworks but lost his dreams in the process, realizing that a life without dreams is lost time. The lake carries the dreams of three generations, and its surface sometimes displays magical images and distant landscapes.