photo: r. shepherdHERITAGE OF THE DUNDJERSKI FAMILY: Interior of the castle
"Goodbye" Lenka Dundjerski, goodbye Sokolac Castle. It was an honor and a pleasure, sometimes a pain, to be near you and watch over you. I lived there for 25 years with you, and looked after it for 40 years and spent a beautiful life! My son also went there, and he loved you. I don't know if we will still be friends, but you will remain in my fond memory. We, Lenka, will meet again one day, and then I will add colors to Uroš for a joint portrait that only we will see. I hope the castle will get its true glory. I don't even know if I'm sad or happy, but - time will tell!", wrote on his Facebook profile Milan Jašin, the man who took care of the Sokolac Castle for 40 years, whose bankruptcy sale recently raised a big storm in the public.
I visited the Sokolac Castle in December 2020 and found it in a fairly good condition, which is not often when it comes to such buildings that are in the process of restitution (Fantast Castle in Becej, for example), state property (Spitzer's Castle in Beočin, for example) or in the possession of companies in bankruptcy, as was the case with Sokolac.
photo: r. shepherd...
photo: r. shepherd...portrait of Lenka Dunđerski,...
The castle was built at the beginning of the 19th century, but Lazar Dunđerski bought it and remodeled it according to his boss, to be modeled on the other two Dunđerski castles, the one in Čelarevo and the one in Hajdučica. It was intended as a dowry for Lenka, Lazar's daughter, but after her untimely death, it was given as a dowry to Emilia, Lenka's sister. In addition to the castle, Emilija Milka Ivanović also received an entire estate called "Veliki Salaš" which included 3.997 acres. Even today in the castle there is a portrait of Lenka Dunđerski made by Uroš Predić, in full standing figure, probably commissioned by Laza Kostić on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Lenka's death.
A legend is also connected to the castle. Namely, the owner of the castle, Lazar Dunđerski, was a good gambler, but one day he lost both the castle and the property around it at cards. The opponent of Lazar Dunđerski offered that if, of course, he wanted, Lazar could recover the entire estate with just one shot from a pistol. It was certainly not such an easy task, because he had to hit the apple on his wife's head. Despite all the risk of losing his wife and property, Lazar accepted the offer. He took aim, held his breath and fired. It was definitely not a day for playing cards for Lazarus, but that's why it was a good day for hunting. His hand did not tremble, he hit the apple on his wife's head and recovered both the estate and the castle.
In 2020, the castle was in solid condition, the clay ovens, some stylish furniture, as well as "Lenka Dunđerski's room" were preserved, and Milan Jašin showed Matija Kovač, the provincial representative from Novi Bečej, and me the basement of the house where there is a 100-year-old bowling alley, a real rarity in these areas.
photo: r. shepherd…bowling alley
At that time, I wrote that I believe that as part of the national project "Castles of Serbia - protection of cultural heritage", this pearl of architecture and a significant asset of historical and cultural heritage will once again shine in its full glory. This did not happen because the change in the head of the Ministry of Culture led to a complete loss of interest in this project.
At the end of last year, the news that Sokolac was sold at a public tender conducted by the Agency for Licensing of Bankruptcy Trustees, as part of the bankruptcy proceedings against the company BD Agro AD Dobanovci, rang out like a bombshell. The company "Vojvodinaput" from Zrenjanin, owned by Maja Buha, was announced as the most favorable bidder. This company bought the property at an initial price of RSD 38.131.622. In addition to the Sokolac castle building, Maja Buha also sold an administrative building with a surface area of 287 square meters, a family residential building, i.e. a janitor's apartment of 86 square meters, a gas station on an area of 28 square meters, as well as land that covers an area of more than 60.000 square meters.
By the way, Maja Buha is the daughter of Ljubiša Buha Čumet, the former leader of the Zemun clan and a protected witness at the trial of the murderers of Zoran Đinđić, whom she had in marriage with Ljiljan Buha, with whom she has a son, Boško. Ljiljana Buha was a witness in several important cases, including the one related to the attempt to poison her husband at the time. At the trial, she stated that she was forced to poison her husband, after which, on the orders of Dusan Spasojević, she was detained for ten months. By the way, Ljubiša Buha Čumet, the first associate witness in the history of the Serbian judiciary, was photographed by the media at Vojislav Šešelj's stand at the last Belgrade Book Fair. Two months ago, at the request of the High Court in Belgrade, a search was launched for Ljubiša Buho Čumet to testify in the court proceedings for the so-called the first kidnapping of the Zemun clan.
However, although the auction has ended and the buyer has been announced, the final transfer of ownership of the castle has not yet been concluded because it is an immovable cultural property, for which the Republic of Serbia has a legal right of first refusal. According to the Law on Cultural Heritage, when an immovable cultural asset is sold, including a sale from bankruptcy proceedings, the Republic of Serbia has the right to accept the price reached after the auction and take the place of the buyer. This means that the state does not participate in the public tender, but is informed about the outcome of the tender afterwards. From that moment, the legal period begins to run, in which the state declares whether it uses the right of pre-emption. If he uses it, the sales contract is concluded with the Republic of Serbia, and the deposit paid is returned to the private bidder. If the state waives that right or does not declare itself within the prescribed period, the contract is concluded with the buyer announced at the auction.
When it is known who owns this company, it will be interesting to see if the state will intervene and buy the castle.
