The family was one of the most patrician Hungarian noble families with the greatest history. They have drawn many different family trees for themselves over the centuries, but all of them, without exception, have their roots in the Aba clan, whose most prominent representative is none other than Samuel Aba, King of the House of Árpád. The Rhédeys received their noble coat of arms from Matthias in 1446, but their fortunes really blossomed a good hundred years later, with the appearance of Ferenc Rhédey, the captain of the endless army.
This valiant Rhédey tried his luck in Transylvania, where he distinguished himself in the Bocskai War of Independence, and as a reward for his services, the Prince made him one of the Transylvanian chief lords.
The success story continued for a few centuries: his son Francis the Younger became court adviser to George II Rákóczi, later governor and even prince for a short time, and after a somewhat inglorious end to his imperial adventure, he was elevated to the rank of count in Hungary by Emperor Leo I and King of Hungary.
But however successfully these great men steered the Rhédeys' ship through the wild storms of history, by the early 19th century the momentum had somehow faded, and the increasingly impoverished and dwindling family slowly faded into insignificance.

The then thirty-year-old heir to the throne, no doubt looking stunning with his thick moustache, finally proposed to the countess.
However, the young couple's budding romance was not looked upon favourably in Vienna or Transylvania: the court and the Württemberg royal family considered the planned marriage to be deeply subordinate, even scandalous.
Even Alexander himself, when he proposed to Claudia, pretended with German meticulousness that he could only promise her a morganatic marriage. This meant that, although the marriage would be recognised as legal and valid, the inferior wife and the children of the union would not be allowed the privileges and titles that the husband possessed, meaning that Alexander's future children would have to renounce their right of succession to the throne. That was all the self-respecting Count László Rhédey needed, who was mortally offended that he, the heir to the great Samuel Aba, should be told what to do by some 'new nobles' who had climbed up the gherkin tree - where were they, with their few hundred years, compared with the Rhédeys' almost thousand-year-old family tree! Claudia was ordered home from Vienna.

Years of nerve-wracking waiting began, but László Rhédey was so stubborn that he refused to hear any more about the German prince. According to some sources (Péter Gáspár, my guide, calls it a legend, an anecdote, but no wind blows), he also objected that his hopeful son-in-law did not speak Hungarian at all. However, the Duke of Württemberg got round this evasion too, because he had mastered the "barbarian language". Exactly five years passed before everyone was reconciled to the situation; the old Count Rhédey is said to have finally agreed to the marriage on his deathbed.
So, Alexander and Claudia were married, and the young woman was even given the noble title of Countess of Hohenstein by the newly enthroned monarch, Count V. Ferdinand, who was completely enchanted by the romantic story of lovers who persevered to the end despite the difficulties, and especially by Claudia herself.
They lived happily ever after… Claudia. The couple had three children, two girls and a boy, so it seemed that nothing could really stand in the way of their happiness any longer.
But in September 1841, just one month before Claudia's 30th birthday, tragedy struck. The countess, who was expecting her fourth child, was enjoying her time in Erdőszentgyörgy when she decided to surprise her husband, who was stationed in Pattau, and packed her bags and set off. (Among the objects in the exhibition was a travel trunk from the period, an amazingly large wooden piece, reinforced with wrought iron, which was used to carry two suitcases.)

After her death, Claudia Rhédey's importance became greater than it was during her lifetime, as her descendants are still part of one of the most famous and popular royal dynasties.
Claudia and Alexander's son, Francis, originally bore the title of Count of Hohenstein, but his cousin, Frederick I., was one of the most famous and most famous of the dynasty. In 1856, his cousin William, King William of Württemberg, bestowed on him the dizzyingly historic but long-unused title of Duke of Teck, and the new prince was now married to one of the most eligible women in the English royal family, Queen Victoria's first cousin, the Duchess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge.
Marie Adelaide, Duchess of Cambridge, her husband Francis, son of Claudia Rhédey, and their daughter Mary von Teck, later Queen of England.
The couple had four children, a daughter and three sons. The daughter, Mary von Teck, was so beautiful that she was said to resemble her paternal grandmother, the beautiful Claudia; for her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, was blessed with many virtues, but beauty was not one of them. Mary was chosen by the heir to the throne, the Duke of York, who was later crowned George V.
Claudia Rhédey's granddaughter thus became, by marriage, Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India.
The royal couple had two sons. The eldest son, Edward VIII, abdicated the throne after less than a year's reign for a lesser but greater love, and was replaced by his younger brother
George VI, who was succeeded by his daughter, the until recently reigning Emperor Erzsébécois II

Forrás: Molnár József Nagyréde története a feudalizmus korában

The Hungarians are justly proud of Countess Claudia Rhedey de Kisrhéde, who took her family name from the former settlement of Kisrhéde in Heves County. The boundary of Kisrhéde, the castle and its park can still be seen on an old cadastral map. 

The Földváry castle and estate, whose area has been considerably reduced, is now owned by the Scharioth family.
Although the Countess Claudia was born in Transylvania, the small Hungarian village of Nagyréde still commemorates the Countess Rhedei de Kisrhéde from the mother country.

The Scharioth family bought the estate, which has now shrunk to 5 hectares, in 2017. The castle has been rebuilt in the neoclassical style and the park is modelled on English landscape gardens.

For both the castle and the park, the Scharioth family used antique architectural elements, sculptures, benches and other special pieces from their decades of collecting to add even more patina to their masterpiece. 

In the 1 hectare of woodland in front of the castle, a memorial memorial commemorates the famous Hungarian countess.

The dining room of the castle is named after Countess Claudia, with 12 chairs and a sofa from the royal palace of Würtenberg. Perhaps the Countess herself sat in these chairs.
In the castle's guest rooms, you can also discover the most distinctive signed interiors of the Empire and Biedermeier periods, each with a special story attached to it.
The Scharioth family renovated the castle entirely on their own. Neither public nor EU funding is available.