Dobrjish Castle

In the immediate surroundings of the capital of the Czech Republic and once Bohemia there is a fairly large number of castles and fortresses. This is due to the limit of the possible day, horse crossing. Few travelers of the past could master more than forty to fifty kilometers per day. Therefore, this “prestigious perimeter” was inhabited rather controversially. Everyone has heard the royal castles Karlstein and Krzyuklat, Konopište castle. Today I will invite you to the castle interesting for its architectural style - Rococo. We will go close, from the center of Prague we will be only 35 km away. It is called our present object-castle Dobrzhish. Considering that there are more than two thousand castles, fortresses and palaces in the Czech Republic, I want to explain the exclusivity of today and why you really need to visit it. Especially if you are really interested in the history of cult and palace architecture. All such objects in the Czech Republic can be divided into several rather representative groups. In each of them there are several dozen fortresses or castle structures. The early history of Bohemia is represented by Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Then in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries came the fashion for Renaissance buildings, and in the era of the Majestic Maria Theresa and her father Charles - the dawn of the Baroque. And somewhere in the second half of the eighteenth century, another, natural change of fashion windmill was to take place. Baroque becomes more refined, graceful and less pressing weight of its stucco. The name of this transitional style was given to Rococo. Perhaps the history of architecture would have known more objects of this style, if at the end of the same eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century Europe were not swept by the events of the Great French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic wars. These dramatic events influenced everything: legal laws, the laws of war, the foundations of power, and architecture and fashion after everything. Rococo died without birth, left behind history. Dobrzys Castle is a rare witness to that dramatic era and that shortest architectural moment. Actually, the history of the settlement and fortress with the name Dobrzhish began much earlier. Legends say that the settlement was founded by a prince of the Slavs named Dobzhik. The first mention in written sources is in the middle of the thirteenth century. And this is already the castle of the famous Czech family Rozhenberg. Witness those events are the ruins of the Gothic castle, which can be seen from the garden of the castle today. And the current structure, appeared after a severe fire that destroyed the Renaissance castle in 1720. Then the owners of this castle was already the German count name Mansfeldov. After a fire in 1745, under the leadership of French and Italian masters, the construction of the present castle and parks began. The construction process was completed in 20 years. Just at this moment, the noble Mansfeld family is interrupted along the male line. The last woman of the family - Isabella married "with a promotion" to Franz von Colloredo (shortly before that, the Colloredo family acquired the title of dukes). In 1789, in memory of the merits of the Mansfelds, the emperor revived their name, allowing the descendants of Franz von Colloredo and Maria Isabella von Mansfeld to henceforth call themselves princes and counts of Colloredo-Mansfeld. The dramatic events of the Napoleonic Wars elevated one of the representatives of this already unified kind to a valet general. This man was called, just like the current owner of the castle, Jerome von Colloredo-Mansfeld. This commander distinguished himself in the company of 1805, and in the company of 1813, when the war returned to Europe, he became famous in the Battle of Dresden, where three horses were killed under him. In the "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig, he took command of the corps, hiding a severe wound to the chest. It brought him fame and honor, but shortened his life. He will die from his injuries at 47. During the Nazi occupation, this castle was taken away by the Third Reich and the Colloredo-Mansfelds were expelled. The castle was used as the residence of the protector Kurt Deluge. During the liberation of the castle in 1945, one of the three heroes of the Soviet Union who died in the Prague liberation operation died at its main entrance. In honor of this event, until today you can see a memorial sign installed at the place of death of the hero. In the days of socialist Czechoslovakia, the House of the Writer was located in this castle, where local creators, in conditions of full state support, created their “netlenki”. The castle returned to the hands of the former owners only in 1998, as a result of restitution and legal action. Thanks to private ownership, the castle is accessible not only in summer but also in winter. Although in summer you can get to the territory of a luxurious castle park. And if you are lucky enough to get to the famous annual flower festival... Given the location on a busy direction from Prague towards the South Bohemia, Dobrzys can be combined with any of the castles of this region: Orlik, Zvikov, Gluboka over Vltava, Czech Krumlov or Rozenberg. Do I think I was able to interest you? If so, I am always happy to introduce you to this castle.