The Brlić House is a neoclassical one-story house built in 1885, located on the main square of Slavonski Brod, which is today called Ivana Brlić Mažuranić Square. It was built according to the project of Mathias Železny and the builder, Adolf Godt. Through the main entrance of the house, you can reach the hallway, with the vault that was painted by Josip Muravić, the first educated artist from Brod, and the corridor connects two side business areas where shops and bookstores used to be located. The first floor of the house can be reached through a staircase with a landing. On the east side of the house, there are three square rooms connected to each other by doors, and one larger room on the west side of the house, as well as servants’ quarters. There was a bathroom next to the staircase. Upon the marriage of Ivana Mažuranić to the lawyer Vatroslav Brlić and the expansion of the family, Vatroslav later bought the northern land and expanded the house.
The small parlour of the Brlić family was a place for family gatherings. This is the room where the family would spend a lot of time during the colder periods of the year. In this room, which holds a violin owned by Vatroslav Brlić, they would entertain their guests and hold evening gatherings for conversation or music, so called soirees. Vatroslav Brlić was a member of the Croatian choral society ‘Davor’, and one of the most prominent citizens of Brod. Already at the age of adolescence, Ivana mastered the piano skillfully. In the parlour, there is an altar from the 18th century, which was preserved in the great fire that engulfed the house of the Brlić family on the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1882. Afterwards, the family built the existing one-story house, and every year they would bring an altar to the hallway of the house on the occasion of the Corpus Christi procession that passed through the city, in the belief that the new house would not suffer the same fate as the previous one. In the altar, there is a wooden figure of the Madonna and a wax group of Susanna the Chaste and two old men. The Brlić family passed on their love for the literary word from generation to generation. There is an interesting story from the life of Ignjat Alojzije Brlić when he went to Vienna in 1815 to purchase goods for the shop and returned with several black chests full of books. The chests were later used to store clothing. The model of the barge “BAN MAŽURANIĆ” represents a cargo sailing ship built in honour of Ban Mažuranić, Ivana’s grandfather, who became an inspiration for literary works, and was a gift to Ivana from her brother Božidar.
The great parlour of the Brlić family is a specially decorated and furnished room used for serving meals and for entertaining distinguished guests from the political and cultural circles. The parlour was commissioned by Ivana’s father, Vladimir Mažuranić, in Lepoglava in 1892. It was completely dismantled after World War II, and was restored due to the artisans from Slavonski Brod. The work desk of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić was a gift from her parents for Christmas in 1912. Ivana spent a lot of time at this desk where she wrote her stories. In the glass display cases, there is family dinnerware that was served to Ban Jelačić and Bishop Strossmayer. On the wall, there are photos from the family albums made from the negatives on slides, and these are unique photographic images that have been digitized and are in electronic frames with the possibility of sound and image reproduction.
The library occupies the central place of the Brlić House. In the library, there is a fireplace to which the genesis of the Tales of Long Ago is connected, and the armchairs of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić. According to legend, one evening Ivana heard unusual sounds coming from this room, similar to knocking. She opened the door of the room and asked: “Who is it?”, but nobody answered. At that moment, a fiery ember jumped out of the fireplace, which inspired Ivana to create the Brownies (Domaći), Wee Tintilinkie (Malik Tintilinić) and the story Stribor’s Forest. On the table in the corner of the library, there is a marble bust of ‘Ahasuerus’ and astronomical equipment, a gift from her grandfather, Ban Ivan Mažuranić. In the central part of the room, there is a round wooden table with chairs. A marble bust of Želimir Mažuranić, the youngest brother and patron of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, is placed on a wooden stand.
The bedroom was made in Lepoglava in 1892 at the same time as the parlour furniture. The ottoman for afternoon rest was also made at the end of the 19th century. Ivana’s black velvet cloak from Antonini’s famous portrait from 1936 is displayed on the screen. The top hat on the ottoman, which belonged to Vatroslav Brlić, and Ivana’s shoes testify to the high fashion of that time. On the dresser, there is a box containing Ivana’s cosmetic accessories, curlers and hairpins. A porcelain water jug and washbowl were used for morning washing. Above the headboard, there is a display of animated characters simulating Ivana’s dreams.
The children’s room is located in the extended part of the house. In addition to Ivana and Vatroslav’s children, there were also wet nurses, governesses and French maids staying in the room. Today, there is a hologram on which an actress portraying Ivana talks about her life, and the texts were created based on the notes from Ivana’s Autobiography. Multimedia displays on the opposite wall show animated characters inspired by Ivana’s stories. Next to the IT equipment, the room has retained certain elements of authenticity, primarily in the furniture and a particularly valuable sketch pad of Ivana’s youngest daughter, Nedjeljka, with extraordinary works made in 1928.
Ivana’s unfulfilled wish was to make a small home theatre in the attic. Accordingly, today it is a multipurpose gallery space intended for literary art, literary evenings and cultural events, theatre performances, and all other public events.
In the basement of the house, the family used to store wine from the rich vineyards they owned in Brodsko Vinogorje, where their Villa Brlićevac is also located. In the basement, there is now a multipurpose hall that is used for cultural events, tastings and presentations.
