# Severin na Kupi

Severin na Kupi is a village and part of Vrbovsko municipality, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, in Croatia. It is situated above the Kupa valley on the part of the D3 highway formerly known as the Lujzijana. It is known for the cliffside Severin castle, one of the best preserved remains of an extensive Christian fortification network during the Turkish wars. As of 2021, it has a population of 113. It was once more populous, and in 1776-1786 it was the titular seat of its own county.

## Name

Severin na Kupi is not to be confused with Severin Bilogorski. There is also a Severin in Polabia. Most importantly, it may be named after Severin of the historical Banate of Severin. A connection with Saint Severin cannot be ruled out, but there is no significant local veneration of a saint by that name, and one historical source uses the form Siverin instead, possibly indicating an early Chakavian attempt to rationalize the name as sěverъ "north".

## Geography

There outer wall of the castle is not defensive in origin, apart from the main gate and outer courtyard gate, which guard the entrance to the castle. The western outer wall is decorative apart from the westernmost enclosure, which served to keep game in. There is no wall on the north, which is bounded by a steep slope, with a narrow footpath consisting of hairpin turns leading down to the Kupa river below from the castle grounds, and a similar path 505 metres (1,657 ft) long from the east gate of the castle grounds down to the waterhouse.
Floorplans of the castle have been made by the Austrian cadastral surveyors (1862), by Gjuro Szabo (1920)$^{:180}$ and by Frigyes Kőnig and József Szatanek (2009).

## Climate

The climate is harsher than in most of the Kordun, but milder than in most of Gorski Kotar.$^{:19}$

## History
### Frankapan period

The castle of Severin was not mentioned in the 1486 Modruše urbarium entry for Brnardin Frankapan's possession of Lukovdol, but was mentioned (for the first time) in a 1558 damage assessment of Stjepan IV Frankapan Ozaljski following a Turkish raid.$^{:175}$$^{:1}$ Lopašić believed the castle already existed at the time the urbarium was drawn up, but there can be no confirmation without Oxygen dating.
A raid in 1577 by the bey of Livno was even more disastrous for the population of the Severin area than that of 1558.
Upon the death of Stjepan Ozaljski in 1577, the castle was inherited by the sons of Nikola Šubić Zrinski thanks to the former's 1572 will, but in 1580 they had to give Severin up to Gašpar I Frankapan Tržački.$^{:175}$$^{:1}$ The seat of the Tržački family was in Bosiljevo, but they sometimes spent time in Severin.$^{:1}$
After the gains of the Turkish invasion were halted with the construction of Karlovac in 1579 and started to be reversed, the abandoned areas were resettled. Already in 1544, Nikola Šubić Zrinski settled Catholics from Rmanj in the nearby Vukova Gorica, Prilišće and Rosopajnik.$^{:2}$ The area around Severin was resettled with Slovene and German serfs from Carniola, and especially Gottschee. Surnames like Rauch, Schneeberger, Verderber, Znelač and so on began to appear in the Severin area.$^{:19}$ Although some pre-Turkish surnames survived in the area among returnees.$^{:20}$
In 1609, the estate of Gašpar Frankapan was divided among his three sons. Severin went to the youngest son, Vuk II Krsto Frankapan.
In the final years of the Frankapan period, the estate of Severin was administered by Juraj Kukuljević, and the last Frankapan era lord of Severin was Ivan Stenešić.
In 1670, during the Magnate rebellion, Severin was plundered by German officers from Karlovac. Fran Krsto Frankopan was beheaded in 1671.

### Cameral control

After the beheading, Severin was acquired first by the Hungarian and then by the Graz Chamber. Grgur Pavišić administered the estate as inspektor, while Juraj Kukuljević was responsible for its economic affairs as fisk.
On 20 April 1679, Janko Herendić wrote a land grant for Ivan Benić in the house of priest Ferenc Herendić in Severin. The transcript survives in the HDA in Zagreb, and was published by Rudolf Strohal [hr].$^{:21,22}$ The parish of Lukovdol, to which Severin belonged, may have been Glagolitic as late as the 17th century.$^{:20}$

### Oršić period

On 20 April 1682, Leopold I gave Severin to Ivan Franjo Oršić for his services in suppressing the Magnate rebellion, for which he became captain of Križanić Turanj and was made a baron and appointed to the Modruš captainate in place of Johann Adam von Purgstall.$^{:175}$
On 1 February 1718, grof Bernard Oršić of Slavetić wrote a land grant in Severin for Paval Gerić, concerning his vineyard on Veliki vrh, bordering that of Marko Severinski to the right, of Oršić himself to the left, Malinska steza below and Babićev obrov above. The transcript by S. Sečen, chancellary of Severin, survives in the HDA.$^{:22}$
In 1736, Severin na Kupi may have been the Severin in which the Metropolitan of Gornji Karlovac, Danilo Ljubotina, had intended to found a new bishopric.
On 14 February 1776, the Severin County [hr] was created by Maria Theresa, named after Severin, but with Karlovac as its capital, although county assemblies were sometimes held in Mrkopalj or Rijeka. It was created after a 1765 decree called for the restoration of the ancient Vinodol County. It was abolished on 20 March 1786 by Joseph II, allegedly because of low tax revenues, with the town of Severin being transferred to Zagreb County as a kotar. The memory of this county would live on in Severin itself, which painted its crest on a building in the town square in the 21st century, and which travellers continued to hear about when passing through Severin throughout the 19th century:
   Severin, a small town belonging to the Vraniczany family, with a castle on a cliff by the Kupa; an independent county once bore its name, which is today united with Zagreb county.
In 1803, Ivan Oršić renovated the old fortress of Severin as a residential castle, leaving the following inscription on a plaque above the main gate:
   An̄o millesimo octingentesimo peracto. Quæ vetus Arx olim nunc in novotecto resurgit, Haec FRANGEPANÆ stirpis avita fuit. Moræ suæ gentis, Quod hospes ab hospite tutus non erat, opposuit ferrea Chatra minis Nunc COMITIS cura reparante JOANIS ab ORSSICH hospita pacifico facta ciucue patet. Aut sic, aut aliter reparabant forte Nepotes Nunc mihi sic placuit, tunc aliter placeat.
The original castle was a tall fortress occupying the present northwest and northeast corners, forming two square towers with a chapel between them, a moat surrounding them, and a moat surrounding them, complete with a drawbridge. The castle was reduced to a ground floor, a storey and an attic, but was expanded in area by the inclusion of a courtyard. Cylindrical towers were added to each of its southern corners. A cistern was dug outside the castle, to which water was transported by aerial lift from the Kupa at a spot where a waterhouse was later built. The cistern is surrounded by stone seats with a view of Kot pri Damlju, whose slopes were once vineyards, supplying the castle with most of its wine, which was stored in the retaining wall of the uppermost terrace.
After the construction of the 141 kilometres (88 mi) long Lujzijana road [hr] in 1803-1811, Severin gained a new importance as one of the larger towns on the road from Karlovac to Rijeka. For example, the Seljan map of 1847 skips Komorske Moravice, Skrad and Lokve along the Lujzijana, featuring nothing between Severin and Mrzla Vodica. The construction of the road, eventually named after Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, began under Josip Filip Vukasović in Rijeka in 1803, and reached Severin in 1808, shortly before Vukasović's death of a wound sustained at the Battle of Wagram.

### Vranjican period

Ambroz Vranjican [hr] (1779-1870) purchased the castle of Severin from Karlo Oršić in 1823.$^{:175}$ He and his brother Ivan made their wealth as merchants trading Dalmatian wine and wheat on the Adriatic, living in Senj since 1803. Their surname derives from Vranjic in Dalmatia, fleeing the Turks in the 1530s for Brač. Ambroz Vranjican's ancestors then moved to Hvar, settling in Stari Grad. Ambroz attained Austrian nobility in 1822, changing his surname to von Vragnizan, upon attaining Hungarian nobility in 1827 to Vranyczány, and upon being knighted by Ferdinand I Vranyczany von Dobrinovich.
As part of the Illyrian movement, Ambroz Vranjican often wrote his name Vranyczany-Dobrinović. Ambroz often hosted prominent members of the movement at Severin, including Ivan Mažuranić, Janko Drašković and Josip Jelačić. Together with Mažuranić, Antun Vakanović and Dragutin Kušlan [hr] he helped found the Ilirska čitaonica in Zagreb in 1838.
In 1844, Ambroz founded the Savsko-kupsko društvo parobrodjenja, which operated the steamboat Sloga between Sisak and Zemun, and was originally intended to sail the Kupa. Ambroz also tried to get the Vukovar–Rijeka railway built.
During the Revolutions of 1848, Ambroz was selected by the Zagreb magistrate to carry a petition to the emperor, and together with Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski and Ljudevit Gaj he was designated part of the committee that would take political leadership in Croatia, Slavonia in the event Jelačić should be incapacitated. Later in 1848, Ambroz became a representative at the Croatian Parliament.
Ambroz served on the Imperial Council (1851, 1859), and in 1851-1858, during Bach's absolutism, Ambroz was president of the Matica ilirska. He participated in the 1860-1861 Ban conference, and was re-elected in the 1861 Croatian parliamentary election, joining the Independent National Party [hr] in 1863.
In 1861, Josip "Josef, Peppi" (1831-1866) son of Ambroz, a University of Prague graduate, was made the Grand Judge (Croatian: veliki sudac) of Severinski kotar. Josip would also join the Imperial Council (1861), represent the Modrušpotočki kotar in the Croatian Parliament (1861, 1865-1866), and participate in the Croatian regnicolar deputation [hr] during the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement (1866).
Also in 1861 (6.2.), the catacomb of the Sv. Florijana chapel on the castle grounds, dedicated to Saint Florian, was completed by mason R.L.
Antun "Toni" (1825-1893) son of Ambroz served as the Secretary of the Kraljevska dalmatinsko-hrvatsko-slavonska dvorska kancelarija [hr] (1862-1867), then Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary (1867-1868), then personal secretary of Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust.
Ambroz Vranjican was an important donor during the foundation of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1866.
After the unexpected death of Josip Vranjican in 1866, Radoslav Lopašić was selected to replace him as Grand Judge of the Severinski kotar.
The Sv. Florijana chapel on the castle grounds was finished in 1889.$^{:20}$ Its catacomb once contained the remains of the Vranjican family (Ambroz and Josip), but they were carried off to the grave in Dubovac and the stone containing their names in the church was transported with it, leaving a hole eventually filled with cement. From Dubovac, their remains were further transported to Mirogoj.
In 1891, Emanuel Vranjican died, ending the family's 68 year rule over Severin.

### Arko period

Under the final owner, the entrepreneur Vladimir Arko [hr], deer were kept on the west part of the castle grounds, guarded by wooden rails.
In the interwar period, a sawmill was built at Riblje on the Kupa. The wood was originally sent to Rijeka and later to Sušak. It ceased operating during and after WWII.$^{:19}$
In 1932, Jovo Jekić formally opened a church for the converts to the Baptist denomination made in Močile by a travelling preacher the year before. In August 1933, 42 were baptised in the Kupa. Initially, they met in the house of Mijo Časni, but for reasons of space they had to rent two rooms until the construction on the Molitveni dom began in 1937, consecrated on 2 January 1938. The church grew in numbers until the 1950s, after which it gradually shrunk.
Also in 1932, Rudolf Strohal published a book about the history of the castle and village of Severin. It was republished in 2005.
In July 1936, Ivan Goran Kovačić and other HSS members and sympathisers founded Gospodarska sloga [hr] chapters in Severin and Lukovdol.

### WWII

In May 1941, the Ustaša government began targeting known and suspected JRZ members with arrests. The only prominent JRZ member in Severin at the time was Matija Paviša.$^{:352}$
In June 1941, the first generation graduated from the 8 grade elementary school in Severin. Of those to graduate during WWII, 24 returned for a reunion in 2010.
In July, when the deportations of Serbs to accommodate the Slovenes of the population exchange commenced, the logornik in Vrbovsko informed his superiors that all the Serbs were in Moravice, whereas the other općine had no Serbs, apart from two retired Serb gunmen in Severin. For the temporary accommodation of Slovenes, the castle in Severin was offered for the housing of 20 people, and the općinska zgrada for 15 people.$^{:366}$
Mara Severinski of Severin na Kupi was listed by SUBNOR [hr] as a victim of fascism. Milivoj Časni joined the Yugoslav Partisans, later becoming pastor of the Baptist church in Severin.

### SFR Yugoslavia

On 6 June 1945, Vladimir Arko, the last owner of the castle, poisoned himself with a cyanide pill, according to one of his servants. According to Arko's lawyer Matija Paviša, Arko assisted the Yugoslav Partisans during the war and willed his estate to them, but the Communist administration of Zagreb had no knowledge of this and had other aims, so Arko committed suicide instead of falling into their hands. This version differs from that told by his last surviving servantess in Severin. Following his death, almost everything of value was looted from the castle in Severin: the paintings, the carpets, the furniture, the gilded bathroom armature, porcelain and silver dishes, medieval armour sets, silk cloth and so on. The most valuable was the collection of hunting weapons, some dating as far back as the Frankopan period.
In 1951, the DVD Severin na Kupi was founded, with the castle gatekeeper's house as their headquarters, in front of which the statue of Saint Florian, patron saint of firefighters, was moved. It was once in the terraced garden, where a female statue remains, headless.
In 1958-1959, the castle was renovated by the Šumarija Vrbovsko, and a plaque commemorating the renovation was fixed to the wall on the left of the door. As a result of this renovation, the castle was turned into a hotel. The northwest wing was turned into a modern kitchen. Another room on the ground floor became the disco ball. The rooms of the storey were given room numbers. The grounds were modified to include a fountain, and transforming the lowermost flat terrace from a soccer court into a tennis court.
On 27 July 1977, a statue commemorating the fallen of WWII in Severin and the surrounding villages was erected in the town square.

### Recent

During the War in Croatia, resident Adam Muminović served in the Gromovi brigade.
Initially, it was thought the area might be a target of the JNA or SVK, and so HV troops were stationed in the castle. They overwintered in 1991–1992, burning books donated by the now-closed restaurant "Risnjak" and the administrative archive inside the castle to keep warm. The castle was looted of valuables and subsequently fell into disrepair, its windows barred up (though one on the ground floor of the northwest corner was opened for entry).
In 1999, the cultural arts society KUD [hr] Frankopan was founded in Severin na Kupi.
In 2001, as part of the privatization process, the castle was returned to the heirs of Vladimir Arko, but his heirs lacked the finances to repair the castle. In 2007, a court case awarded 94% ownership to the city of Vrbovsko, but litigation continued until the courts finally decided in favour of the city of Vrbovsko in 2012.
The opening of the A6 in 2004-2008 resulted in a sudden decrease in traffic to Severin and the other towns and villages along the D3. Many restaurants and stores, apartments and lodges and other establishments closed down. The once busy bus stop lost most of its traffic, and was eventually restricted to a single regular line on the weekends and the occasional tourist bus.
In September 2007, the annual folk festival "Severin Evenings" (Croatian: Severinske večeri) was founded on the initiative of Vesna Žagar and Mira Slivac. It was held annually almost every year since then: 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023.
In 2008, a Eurasian brown bear attacked and killed a sheep belonging to Franjo Sečen in Severin.
In 2008, Rudolf Časni published a book about the history of the Baptist church in Severin.
On 29 April 2012 after 15:00, a fire burned 50 hectares (120 acres) in the forest near Severin.
On 11 August 2012, drought caused a loss of tap water in Severin, Draga Lukovdolska, Močile, Smišljak, Damalj, Klanac, Plešivica, Rim, Zdihovo and Liplje.
A Gavranović chain convenience store opened in Severin na Kupi, broken into and robbed in November 2014 shortly after the robbery of the restaurant in Kamačnik and Gavranović store in Dokmanovići.
In the summer of 2016, there was a cigarette robbery in Severin and Vrbovsko. In 2017, there was a cigarette robbery at the INA gas station in Severin.
On 23 April 2018, during the larger Smrečje fire the roof of an apartment in Severin, which the Vrbovsko fire department put out.
In November 2018, Severin hosted the 27th Govor mog zavičaja dialect festival.
In 2021, potatoes were planted by the city utility of Vrbovsko for the first time on the Riblje field for the purpose of feeding impoverished residents.

## Demographics

The first census to include Severin took place in 1750 and included the full name of the father, number of married sons and brothers, size and quality of land and description of livestock. Much data is available in the urbarijalna regulacija made 1774-1848, like HR-HDA-34. The first census of the newly created Severinska županija took place in 1779/1780.$^{:60}$ A census of the nobility now kept at the HDA was made in 1785/87. An extremely detailed conscription-oriented census followed in 1802. In 1828, there was a census including the full name of the father, number of houses, number of men and women, professions, age structure, size of land, number of livestock, faith and so on; the census is now in an archive in Hungary.
Census data after the abolition of the Severinska županija can be found under the Zagrebačka županija, and then the Riječka županija (1850-1861).
Severin was the administrative seat of its own Severinski kotar, with an area of 265.8 square kilometres (102.6 sq mi) in 1869/1870.$^{:98}$ In 1811, the kotar had a population of 3629 in 26 villages.$^{:219}$
In 1828/1830, there were 96 residents in 10 families living in the Purga of Severin, and 85 residents in 9 families in Severin proper, all Catholic.
In the 1880s, many residents of Severin emigrated to the United States of America.$^{:19}$
As of 2021, it has a population of 113.
* v

### Prosopography

The Gorica hamlet is home to one of the few Baptist graveyards in the country, with about 40 burials as of 2024, including part of the family of Ivan Goran Kovačić. Families with members buried there include: Brozović, Časni, Despot, Fabac, Gašparović, Gerić, Kasun, Klobučarić, Kovačić, Kuretić, Lukanić, MacKenzie, Muminović, Pavišić, Pavlinac, Perše, Pupić, Rožman, Samardžić, Sečen, Severinski, Štajduhar, Tkalčević, Vrbanac, Vučetić and Žagar.

## Religion

Ecclesiastically, Severin falls under the parish of Lukovdol.$^{:1}$

## Dialect

Already Rudolf Strohal in his 1932 monograph noticed similarities between the Kajkavian dialect of Severin and that of Brod na Kupi. He proposed the pre-Turkish inhabitants had spoken a Chakavian dialect.$^{:19}$ This has been disputed.

## Politics

Representatives of the Severinski kotar at the Croatian Parliament:
* Radoslav Lopašić (1861)
* Miho Klaić (1865)$^{:110}$
As of its foundation in 2006, it is the seat of a local committee [hr] encompassing Močile, Smišljak, Liplje, Zdihovo, Klanac, Damalj, Rim and Plešivica.
Presidents of local committee:
* Zvonko Osojnički (2008 — 2009)
* Vojin Božović (2009 — 2020), HSU
* Janko Filipčić (2020 — 2021), interim president
* Dubravko Osojnički (2021 —), HDZ
In 2020, the option of dividing Vrbovsko into 4 municipalities (Croatian: općine) was being considered, one being Severin na Kupi/Lukovdol.

## Attractions

The 7 hectares (17 acres) terraced garden of the castle dates to the renovation under grof Ivan Oršić in 1803 and later. It was protected by law in 1966. The paths were first recorded on the 1862 cadastre, and some of the trees still stand. The old Vranjican garden was visible from a far thanks to its tall Populus nigra trees, which were cut down later on, replaced with purple Fagus sylvatica. Apart from several Taxus baccata individuals, a very old, hollow Tilia platyphyllos next to a stone table, and possibly one of its children at the western corner of the walled area, survive. Newer additions are mostly North American species, including very tall Chamaecyparis lawsoniana trees, severely affected by Sitta europaea and Dendrocopus major, as well as Pinus strobus, Quercus rubra, Thuja occidentalis. Near the castle are rows of Ilex aquifolium and Aesculus hippocastanum. The Ulmus and Buxus sempervirens trees on the south side have been severely affected by DED and Cydalima perspectalis, respectively.
The 11,700 square metres (126,000 sq ft) school garden was started in the second half of the 20th century and remains unprotected.

### Events

An annual Christmas concert is organised by the local KUD Frankopan, for example: 2012, 2014, 2023.
On 9 July 2023, the castle garden hosted the medieval festival "Walking the Paths of Frankopan History" (Croatian: Šetnja putevima frankopanske prošlosti).

## Infrastructure

The water storage unit between Severin na Kupi and Damalj, with a capacity of 180 cubic metres (6,400 cu ft) at an elevation of 266 metres (873 ft), is responsible for Draga Lukovdolska, Močile, Smišljak, Klanac, Plešivica, Rim, Zdihovo and Liplje. The water pumping station Klanac affects the water storage units in Severin and Gornji Kalanji.
Severin has a post office,$^{:20}$$^{:24}$ an defunct infirmary, and partial elementary school "Ivana Gorana Kovačića",$^{:20}$ an Udaljeni pretplatnički stupanj (UPS),$^{:24}$ restaurants and lodgings. It also had an općinski ured, which at one point served as the office of the mjesni odbor.$^{:20}$ There was also a butchery adjacent to the castle.

## Popular culture

Ivan Goran Kovačić wrote a novella about the castle centred around class differences.
In 2020, the castle in Severin was used along with that in Stara Sušica and the Gomirje Monastery as a filming location for the music video of the županija anthem.
The castle was used as a filming location together with the Stara Sušica castle by Marko Kutlić for his 2021 national hit Budi moja noć.

## Selected works

* Časni, Rudolf (2008). 75 godina Kršćanske baptističke crkve u Severinu na Kupi, 1933. – 2008 [75 Years of the Christian Baptist Church in Severin na Kupi, 1933–2008] (in Croatian).
* Strohal, Rudolf (1935). "Selo Severin" (PDF). Uz Lujzinsku cestu [Along the Louisiana Road] (in Croatian). Zagreb: 🖶 Tisak "Tipografije". pp. 88–95. Reprinted 1993 with ISBN 953-158-000-6, 2005 with ISBN 953-99903-1-9.
* Strohal, Rudolf (1932). Grad i selo Severin u Gorskom Kotaru na Kupi [The Castle and Village of Severin in Gorski Kotar on the Kupa] (in Croatian). Zagreb: Jugoslovenska štampa. Reprinted 2005 with ISBN 953-99903-2-7.
* Lopašić, Radoslav (1895). "Severin". In Laszowski, Emilij (ed.). Oko Kupe i Korane: mjestopisne i povjestne crtice [Around the Kupa and the Korana: Geographic and Historical Outlines] (in Croatian). Zagreb: Matica hrvatska, 🖶 Karl Albrecht. pp. 249–257.

## Gallery

* Castle in winter