Manor Strnišče (Sternthal)

Sternthal Manor was built on the basis of an estate outbuilding, which was erected around 1830 by Adolf Schönfeld. The central building of the manor was later constructed around 1870 by the estate’s new owner, Count Schöndorf. After its construction, the count’s family moved into the manor, while three accompanying farm buildings were inhabited by workers’ families. The construction of the manor practically marked the beginning of the settlement of Sternthal, or Strnišče – today’s Kidričevo – as the area had previously only been home to sheepfolds. In 1890, Sternthal had only 3 houses with 19 inhabitants, and over the next twenty years, the number of buildings remained unchanged.

In 1896, Ptuj native Franc von Hellin purchased the manor along with its approximately 331-hectare estate. He had a narrow-gauge railway built to the property, connecting it to the Sternthal railway stop on the Ptuj–Pragersko line.

In 1915, the Austro-Hungarian military administration headquarters moved into the manor and began building a prisoner-of-war camp and reserve military hospitals on the leased estate.

After the First World War, Franc Čuček – a champagne producer and large landowner from Ptuj – expressed interest in buying the manor and estate, intending to open several industrial facilities in the area. However, all his companies went bankrupt in the following years, and on 22 August 1928, the People’s Credit Bank of Ljubljana, as the main creditor, took over Strnišče. After the occupation in 1941, Sternthal Manor became the headquarters of the German military command, which began constructing a prisoner-of-war camp on the estate.

In the early post-war years, the manor housed a canteen for workers of the emerging alumina and aluminium factory, and its former stables were converted into a cinema hall. In 1959, the manor’s former estate and buildings were incorporated into the “Dravsko polje” Agricultural Enterprise, and after 1961, they became part of the Ptuj Agricultural Combine. Until 2013, the manor served as a residential building. Since 2014, Sternthal Manor has been the new seat of the Kidričevo municipal government.