BLIC NEWS INTERVIEW: HOW THE PROPERTY OF THE KARADJORDJEVICS WAS CREATED

THE CHANCELLERY OF
H.R.H. CROWN PRINCE Alexander II
OF YUGOSLAVIA

 

“Blic News”, 16 April 2003
HOW THE PROPERTY OF THE KARADJORDJEVICS WAS
CREATED
From Karadjordje to Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic, this Serbian
dynasty has gone through many uprisings, wars and truces in which their
property was enlarged or reduced, confiscated or plundered
The Royal and The White Palace, situated in 130 hectares of the estate in
Dedinje stretching toward Rakovica, is the property of Karadjordjevic
dynasty, that was also “fancied” by other Serbian and Yugoslav rulers.
The girl in the reception hall of The Royal Palace offered us with drink
while outside the Palace the guard at the gate was lifting the bar, letting
in the car with Dragomir Acovic, member of the Privy Council who we were
expecting. The director of the Royal Fund Dusan Babac explains to me that
The Royal Palace building in which we are sitting, was built from 1924 to
1929, designed by architect Zivojin Vujic. His advisor and assistant was the
famous Russian architect Nikolai Krasnoff who designed the Army Headquarters
building. Before approaching the Palace, visitors pass by a small house with
thatched roof from which King Alexander supervised the works, and later on
Princes Andrew and Peter used it as their study.
In the large reception hall of The Royal Palace I finally sit with three
men of special trust of Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic: Dragomir
Acovic, Dusan Babac and the correspondent at the Office of the Crown Prince,
Gavrilo Dosen. We start the story of Karadjordjevics’ estates from the
beginning, from Karadjordje.
Wealthy Karadjordje
– At the time when the First Serbian Uprising was about to be raised,
Karadjordje was already a relatively wealthy man. It was the reason why he
entered the narrow circle of people who decided on starting the Uprising. It
wasn’t just his fierce character, but also the fact that he belonged to the
few wealthy Serbs of the time. However, Karadjordje’s property grew and
melted away, depending on how the Serbian cause was getting on. The main
piece of property was in Topola and around it. It was the place where
Karadjordje’s family had settled and felt at home – says Dragomir Acovic.

The Petrovics came there from Montenegro, but not in the first
generation. One can say that the migration took several generations.
Karadjordje wasn’t born in Topola, but in Visevac, although some sources
claim other villages, but anyway in that area. Visevac is between Raca and
Topola. Karadjordje’s property after his departure from Serbia was
plundered. What was left of it was of no importance and the Karadjordjevics
started creating their new property where they found themselves, in
Besarabia, in Hotin.
– The were living off the pension granted by the Russian government,
which was not much, and the payments ceased when they were ordered to leave
Hotin and go to another part of Russia. When they refused, the pension was
terminated and they were left with no income at all. New assets were gained
when Karadjordje’s sons went into trade. The elder married the daughter of
Captain Misa Anastasijevic, while the younger, who became Prince Alexander,
created new family property for himself. Their family situation became
better when Alexander Karadjordjevic was elected the Prince of Serbia – says
Acovic. Then the Karadjordjevics establish their wealth in Serbia, keeping
their estates in Walachia and Besarabia. The property of the Karadjordjevic
was got enlarged, until the fall of Prince Alexander. After Prince Michael
Obrenovic was assassinated a law was passed confiscating the entire property
of the Karadjordjevics in Serbia. It was even partly destroyed. For
instance, the original Karadjordje’s estate was razed to the ground twice.
Karadjordje’s fort was demolished, and only the “konak” (house) was left,
which exists today, too. The principal heir of what was left of the
property, mainly abroad, was one of Prince Alexander’s sons, Prince Andrew,
and he was the one who financed all early activities of the future King
Peter I, during Herzegovina uprising and his several illegal visits to
Serbia, when he went under the name of Peter Mrkonjic.
The King and the soldier
The future King Peter I and his youngest brother Prince Arsen built their
careers in the military profession. They both finished military schools.
King Peter the one in Saint Cyr in France, where he later entered the
Foreign Legion.
– One should not forget that King Peter served regular French army and
was wounded in the hand in the battle of Sedan, during French-Prussian war,
while Prince Arsen served in several armies. He was a professional soldier
and an adventurer and he fought in almost all wars in the first half and at
the end of the 19. century, starting with Manchuria front, where he fought
in the Russian army against Japan, through Indochina wars and all the way to
Algeria.
When later King Peter married the daughter of Montenegrin King Nicholas,
that was, above all political marriage, but with romantic side, too, say our
collocutors. That was not a marriage based on material interest. At the time
when Peter I was invited to come from Geneva where he lived and take Serbian
throne, the financial situation of the Karadjordjevics was rather “slim”.
King Peter and his family lived a fairly modest life.
On the other hand, Prince Arsen was married to Princess Aurora of the
wealthy Russian family of Demidoff, and he got a substantial dowry, which
significantly improved his financial situation, but the marriage didn’t
last. After he had come to Serbia, King Peter started reconstructing what
used to be family property of the Karadjordjevics. He was a man who got used
to a very modest life, which can be confirmed by his diaries. At every
moment he knew exactly how much he had and his sparingness was legendary.

– He wasn’t a miser. He had gone through various troubles and he learned
to avoid every expense he could. It is supported by the fact that so few of
his personal belongings was found when his museum was to be opened that the
exhibition could not be set. There was enough to fill one room only.
Everything else was about his military career – says Acovic.
King’s civil list

He endowed those objects to the museum, and what was left were the real
estates. He bought his grandfather’s and his father’s estates and also a few
houses in Belgrade, and that made his belongings. According to the then
constitution and laws, there was a civil list, which did not exist only in
monarchies, but in French republic as well. It is what might be called
budget expenses of the head of state. Civil list, as a rule, was determined
several years in advance. It could not be altered, neither be increased, nor
reduced, between two decisions of the Parliament. It consisted of the King’s
salary and all expenses of the head of state. That includes maintaining of
the residences, staff salaries, and appanages for all members of the Royal
family. By wise managing of the civil list, King Peter succeeded in
reconstructing what used to be the family’s property that was lost or
confiscated. After King Peter’s death, it was enlarged by King Alexander.

Every now and then stories appear of King Alexander being the best paid
ruler in Europe. Acovic says they are sheer fabrications.
– Absolutely false. The salary was compared to the one of the American
president, forgetting to mention that that the sum the American president
gets is his salary only, and that it served to that purpose only, while
everything else was covered from the budget, since there is no civil list in
it. On the other hand what was called King Alexander’s salary was in fact
the civil list, which included covering the expenses of trips abroad and
receptions for foreign statesmen. All expenses of the head of state’s
cabinet were included in the list – notes Acovic.
When he got married, King Alexander received a wealthy dowry from Queen
Maria who came from Romania. German dynasty of Hohenzollern ruled Romania,
the same dynasty that ruled Germany. German Kaiser and Romanian king were
from the same dynasty, only from different branches. So dynasty of
Karadjordjevic had many relations with other ruling families.
– Al those ties with other dynasties were originated only by the marriage
of King Alexander, there were no relations before that. When I say other
dynasties, I mean that Petrovic Njegos can’t be regarded as a foreign
dynasty. That also was Serbian dynasty from Montenegro – says Acovic.
Karadjordje was married to a girl from the family of Jovanovic, Prince
Alexander was married to Persida Nenadovic, and King Peter I to Zorka
Petrovic Njegos. Only King Alexander got married outside national context,
to Maria, Marioara, Hohenzollern, who was a distant descendant of the
Nemanjics. An arch in time was made and “wandering blood” of the Nemanjic
returned to Serbia. After that, Prince Pavle also had a dynastic marriage,
he married Princess Olga of the Greek dynasty.
After 1934
After King Alexander’s assassination in 1934 the court established what
the property of the late King consisted of. Above all that was The Royal
Palace, the place of our interview.
The property included The Royal and The White Palace with belonging
objects like offices of the ‘mayor of the palace’. Beside this estate, there
was a piece of land belonging to the Royal gardens, and it was situated in
Patrijarha Dimitrija street in Rakovica. The King also owned a house in
Sarajevska street, which was demolished, and in its place there is hotel “Turist”
today; then there is a house in Krunska street, next to Brazilian Embassy;
land on which the endowments of King Alexander were built and they are the
Archive of Yugoslavia and Military High School, as well as the students’
home of King Alexander, today known as “Lola” in King Alexander’s street.

In addition, there was property consisting of a villa in 1, Uzicka
street, and the house endowed to King Alexander’s son Tomislav in 2,
Tolstojeva street. And of course the land on which the endowments of Queen
Maria were built – 1, Aberdareva street where the building of Radio and
Television of Serbia is, the one bombed by NATO in 1999.
The Family owned land in Sokobanja, shares in some mines, like the gold
mine of Nevesnica on the river Pek. It also owned rights to hunt and fish,
but not to own some land, so that today it is rather difficult to define
those rights. In Slovenia Prince Pavle owned a castle, Brdo kod Kranja,
while King Alexander owned the estates at the Bled and Bohinj lakes, in
municipalities of Kamnik and Radovljica. It consisted of several objects in
Bled and Bohinj. In Croatia, Queen Maria owned several objects, like the
palace in Zagreb, estate in Belje and a villa in Dubrovnik. She also owned a
villa in Han Pijesak. In today’s Macedonia, the King owned a large
agricultural estate near Demir Kapija, which he bestowed to his son Tomislav.

In Montenegro, the dynasty had possessions in Podgorica, Rijeka
Crnojevica and Cetinje, while Queen Maria owned the estate in Milocer.
Oplenac, which is often stated as a part of the property, is in fact a
Foundation and it is under a special regime of management, under control of
the Board. And that would be all, as for the real estate.
Mestrovic and Bukovac
– The Karadjordjevics own many paintings by Vlaho Bukovac and sculptures
by Ivan Mestrovic – says Dusan Babac during the tour of the Palaces.
There is a self-portrait of Mestrovic and a bust of Njegos, also the work
of Mestrovic.
– As for the library, I have to point out that out of about 50,000 books
only 4,000 has remained. Regrettably, the most of books has disappeared –
explains Dosen.
From the Blue room we go into the King’s office, with the bust of King
Peter, by Dragan Jovanovic. Then the Golden room and again the work of
Mestrovic – “Prince Marko”. Then the portrait of King Alexander by French
painter George Scott. Through the large windows of the Royal dining room one
can see a patio with “Bathing beauty”, a sculpture by Frano Krsinic. Marble
is everywhere and the impression of Mediterranean is in the air.
We go to Oriental room in the style of “1001 night”, and next to it to
“the room of whispers” with a marble fountain on the wall, that was
activated when the King wanted to have a confidential conversation.
Family church of Saint Andrew the First Called, designed in Mediterranean
style was finished in fatal 1934, the year when King Alexander was
assassinated in Marseilles.
– Painting of the Family church was done under instructions of King
Alexander, on the model of the frescos from Serbian medieval monasteries.
The painting was coordinated by academician Nikolai Krasnoff, and performed
by Boris Obraskov, Nikola Maiendorf, and Vladimir Bickovski. In front of the
church of Saint Andrew the First Called, the patron saint of the
Karadjordjevics, there is a cannon, cast before the First Serbian Uprising –
explains Babac while we are standing in the church yard, among frescos.
Tito, Krcun, Milosevic
The White Palace shines in the afternoon sun. The life-long president of
SFRY Josip Broz Tito used this Palace for a year intensively, and then only
occasionally. The grave of Davorjanka Paunovic, a beautiful girl from
Sumadija and Tito’s secretary with a wartime name of Zdenka, who was buried
between The Royal and The White Palace, is according to some sources,
probable reason why Tito later stayed at The White Palace only officially.

The inside of the Palace is matching its outside. There is the famous
settee, which we used to watch so often on the state TV, while the then
president, and the present accused by the Hague, received guests from all
over the world. The picture of the real owner, King Alexander Karadjordjevic
could rarely be seen. Such were the times.
Not only Milosevic fancied the Palace in which he gave his last
statement, when he finally admitted his defeat in the elections of 2000 and
the victory of now ex-president of ex-Yugoslavia Dr. Vojislav Kostunica. As
our collocutors have testified, after the WWII the “red princes” of
communist revolution, particularly Slobodan Penezic Krcun, liked this Palace
in which they often took pictures of themselves smiling and with a glass of
champagne in their hands.
Borislav Solesa

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

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