History of the Degenfeld Castle in Cuci
The first written mention of Cuci dates back to the 14th century, in the form Cutfolua, Kugfolwa.
The first known owners of the Cuci estate were the Pekry family. Pekry László converted to Catholicism and was made a count in 1692. The last of the Pekrys, General Pekry Lőrinc, died in 1709.
Pekry Lőrinc's wife,Petrőczy Kata Szidónia, is considered the first Hungarian poet.
After Pekry’s death, for the next almost a hundred years, the estate was passed down through female lines. Their daughter, Polixénia, married baron Daniel István. From this marriage Daniel Polixénia was born, and by through her marriage the estate became the property of baron Wesselényi István. Their daughter, Mária, was married to count Teleki Ádám,and thus Cuci became the property of the Teleki family.
In 1800, the daughter of Teleki Ádám, Anna, married count Maximilian von Degenfeld-Schonburg.
Cuci thus became the property of the Degenfelds and is considered to be one of their oldest Transylvanian estates.
The Degenfeld family, however, lived mainly on their estate in Ardusat.
After the death of Maximilian in 1816, the estate was inherited by his eldest son Otto, who lived mainly in Szirák (Hungary). After 1849, Ottó’s minor son, Lajos became the heir to the estate. In the early 20th century, Lajos gave the estate to his son Kristóf and modernised it by adding two side wings to the old mansion (which was probably built in the early 19th century), in 1907. Degenfeld Kristóf would thus become the founder of the Degenfelds’ Cuci branch. After the nationalisation, the castle was used as a Mayor’s office, a doctor’s practice and a library. The Degenfeld family recovered the castle in 2010.
