Opočno Castle () is a complex of buildings comprising a former aristocratic residence located in the East

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n town of

Opočno Opočno (; ) is a town in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. Opočno is known for the Opočno Castle, one of the most magnificent examples of Czech Renaissance archi ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Its outer arcades are a valuable example of the Renaissance architecture in Bohemia.

History

The place was first mentioned in 1068 by

Cosmas of Prague Cosmas of Prague (; ; – 21 October 1125) was a Czech priest, writer and historian. Life Between 1075 and 1081, he studied in Liège. After his return to Bohemia, he married Božetěcha with whom he had a son, named Jindřich Zdík, and remai ...

as a fortified settlement. Later a Gothic castle was built in its location. In 1425 the castle was conquered by East Bohemian

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

and later it was reconstructed. The round Well Tower is the only still existing part of the original medieval castle. In 1495 the domain of Opočno was bought by the family Trčka of Lípa.

Vilém Trčka of Lípa Vilém or Vilem is Czech form of Germanic name William. It may refer to: *Vilém Blodek (1834–1874), Czech composer, flautist, and pianist * Vilém Dušan Lambl (1824–1895), Czech physician *Vilém Flusser (1920–1991), philosopher born in Cz ...

, who undertook a journey to Italy in 1551, rebuilt the palace in the Renaissance style between 1560–67. In this time the new Renaissance arcades were built after Italian examples. Vilém then rebuilt also the original chapel of St. Andrew into the new Church of the Holy Trinity which was planned for the burials of the Trčka family. In 1602 a summer pavilion was built by Jan Rudolf Trčka overlooking the valley of the valley Zlatý potok () and he also founded a new garden around the summer house. After the murder of Adam Erdman Trčka (together with

Albrecht of Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland (; 24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein (), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Thirty Years' War (1618–16 ...

) in

Cheb Cheb (; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. Before the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia, expulsion of Germans in 1945, the town was the centre of the G ...

() in 1634 and the death of his father in the same year, the Trčka family died out in the male line. Opočno was confiscated and the Emperor Ferdinand II allowed the

Colloredo Colloredo is a surname that may refer to: *Colloredo-Mansfeld, Princely family which was based in Bohemia and Austria, with Waldsee and Melz subsidiary names **Rudolf von Colloredo (1585–1657), Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire, who fought ...

family to buy the property for 51,456

Rhenish guilder The Rhenish ''gulden'' or Rhenish ''guilder'' (; ) was a gold, standard currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries. They weighed between 3.4 and 3.8 grams (). History The Rhenish gold ''gulden'' was created when the Prince- ...

s. Rudolf Colloredo von Walsee was a general of the Imperial army during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. In the 1690s the palace, especially its southern wing, was reconstructed after a fire under Hieronymous Colloredo von Walsee. In this time the chapel of St. Anne in the southern wing got its present appearance. These

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

changes were carried out also by the architect

Giovanni Battista Alliprandi Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

. Since then the Colloredos have substantially modified the chateau and even founded a English garden with rare trees, ponds and waterfalls. In 1895 the exceptionally valuable and large family painting gallery was brought to Opočno from Prague. During the World War II, the owners of Opočno Castle, the family of Colloredo-Mansfeld, opposed the

Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

, therefore their Castle was confiscated in 1942 by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. After the war Opočno Castle passed to possession of the Czechoslovak state and because of the subsequent Communist rule it could not be returned to the Colloredo-Mansfeld family that emigrated in 1948 for fear of persecutions by the Communist government. First in 2003 the Czech courts decided to return Opočno Castle to the Colloredo-Mansfeld family, but in 2007 the decision was reversed with regard to the castle and its collections, while the farmland was returned. In 2014 the Czech Supreme Court ordered a new trial concerning the unresolved restitution claims of the Colloredo-Mansfeld family.

Today

The castle is opened to the public and serves as a museum with many historical interiors, a gallery, a library, ethnographic collections, and an armoury housing weaponry from 16th to 19th centuries including oriental weapons.

References

External links

*
Opocno City

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opocno Castle Opočno Castles in the Hradec Králové Region National cultural monuments of the Czech Republic Renaissance architecture in the Czech Republic