Hluboká nad Vltavou State Castle in the South Bohemian Region began as a royal guard castle and received its present Romantic form from the Schwarzenbergs in 1840–1871. It is managed by the National Heritage Institute.
Hluboká Castle stands on a promontory above the Vltava in the South Bohemian Region. It was originally a royal castle, passed to the Schwarzenbergs in 1661, and is now managed by the National Heritage Institute.[1][2]
History
The castle was founded in the mid-13th century by Bohemian kings as a guard castle. As royal property it was often pledged as security, and several noble families held it in turn. In 1490 the Pernštejns established the nearby Bezdrev pond, which by area is the second largest in Bohemia. The Lords of Hradec bought the estate in 1561 and two years later had the Gothic castle rebuilt as a Renaissance chateau.[1]
At the end of the 16th century the estate belonged to the Malovec of Malovice family, who as Protestants lost the property in 1619. Four years later the Spanish general Don Baltazar de Marradas received it from Emperor Ferdinand II in compensation for war claims. Marradas's nephew sold Hluboká in 1661 to Johann Adolf I of Schwarzenberg.[1]
The Schwarzenbergs and the reconstructions
The Schwarzenbergs resided at Hluboká until the end of 1939, when the last owner, Adolf, left for overseas to escape the Nazis. They lost the property definitively under the special law Lex Schwarzenberg of 1947, by which the castle was nationalised.[1][2] The castle was rebuilt twice: in the Baroque style in the first third of the 18th century, and in the Romantic Neo-Gothic style in 1840–1871, including alterations to the park and the surrounding landscape.[1][2]
The reconstruction grew out of journeys to England made by Prince Johann Adolf II of Schwarzenberg and his wife Eleonora, née Princess of Liechtenstein. As an honorary diplomat of the Habsburg monarchy, the prince attended the coronation of the British Queen Victoria in 1838. According to the castle's website, Princess Eleonora strongly influenced its appearance. The main model was Windsor Castle. Work began to plans by the Viennese architect Franz Beer, and after his death it was continued mainly, in interior designs, by the Schwarzenberg builder Damasius Deworetzky.[1][2] Hluboká soon became the principal residence of the Schwarzenberg family.[2]
Grounds and interiors
The broad crest of the promontory allowed the castle to be extended and farm courtyards and game parks to be built in the surroundings.[2] The walls and ceilings of the interiors are decorated with wood carvings and fine wood. Some rooms are furnished with chandeliers, stained glass and Delft ceramics, as well as paintings by European masters of the 16th to 18th centuries, and portraits depict notable members of the Schwarzenberg family. Visitors can see the private rooms of the last owners, Adolf and his wife Hilda. In the basement the castle kitchen is open, with a confectionery, a personal lift and a dining lift dating from the early 20th century.[2]