Dobřenice
- Classification
- Château
- Country
- Czechia
- Region
- Hradec Králové
- Address
- Dobřenice 122, 503 25 Dobřenice
The Neo-Classical chateau at Dobřenice stands in the village of Dobřenice, approximately 15 km south-west of Hradec Králové. The chateau has been protected as a cultural monument since 1964. The earliest references to Dobřenice date from 1339. In 1538 Vilém Dobřenský of Dobřenice sold the manor owing to heavy indebtedness to Mareš Dobřenský of Dobřenice — this is thus the first record of the Dobřenice manor. In the early 17th century Dobřenice was owned by Jan the Elder Dobřenský of Dobřenice. He was sentenced for participation in the Estates' Uprising to forfeiture of half his property, and Dobřenice was sold in 1623 to Albrecht of Wallenstein, who in the same year sold it to Alžběta of Vchynice; after her, her son Jan Oktavián of Vchynice and Tetov inherited Dobřenice and was compelled by debts to sell it to Karel Kunata Dobřenský of Dobřenice at Vorl. By this time, however, the local manor was completely derelict and demolished. Only part of the walls of the former manor and two cellars had survived. The debt-ridden Karel Kunata was compelled in 1672 to transfer the ruined manor with its farm and village to Anna Kateřina Plotová, née of Binau, who in 1675 sold Dobřenice to Jindřich Rudolf Odkolek of Újezdec, the captain of the Hradec Králové region. In 1693 Bohuchval Jaroslav Dobřenský of Dobřenice and Nesyta purchased Dobřenice. Probably his uncle Ferdinand Rudolf Dobřenský of Dobřenice had a Baroque chateau built on the site of the manor after 1693. In 1734 Václav Petr Dobřenský of Dobřenice took over Dobřenice and in 1740 had the chateau structurally altered. In 1861 the Dobřenice estate was purchased at auction by Josef and Julie Kraus of Pardubice, and in 1862 from them by Baron Karel Daniel Weinrich, who had the part of the chateau damaged in the fire of 1860 demolished and replaced with a single-storey Neo-Classical new building. In 1875 the adjacent English landscape park, designed by the eminent landscape architect Eduard Petzold, was also laid out. The remainder of the original chateau was radically rebuilt in 1900, and in 1916 a southern annex with a semicircular projection was added. In 1928 the entire Dobřenice estate was purchased by JUDr. Karel Loevenstein, chairman of the board of directors of the Škoda Works in Pilsen. Two years later German forced administration was imposed on the estate. In 1945 the entire property was returned to the Loevenstein family, but shortly afterwards it was nationalised in 1948 and for more than 40 years a state farm operated here. In 1993 the entire estate was returned in restitution to Karel Loevenstein's daughter, Karla Katschnerová. In 1995 a gradual reconstruction of the remaining buildings began, which continues to the present day under the management of Karla Katschnerová's son Rodrigo and his wife Colette. The chateau is today used for commercial purposes, primarily weddings but also concerts and private events. The establishment of a bed-and-breakfast hotel is under consideration for the future. Restoration of the stables is in progress, and appropriate attention is also being given to the English landscape park, where many valuable, very old trees can be found offering fine views of the chateau and the adjoining ponds.