Terezínov

Classification: Château
Country: Czechia
Address: Albeř 81, 378 33 Nová Bystřice

On the eastern edge of the South Bohemian village of Albeř near Nová Bystřice stands the Empire-style château of Terezínov, No. 81. The one-storey building with a mansard roof and a small tower has a seven-bay façade with a shallow projecting bay and a tympanum. The rooms on the ground floor, apart from the entrance hall, have barrel vaults; the remaining rooms have flat ceilings. The entrance is emphasised by granite masonry with a segmental arch. The château was designated a cultural monument in the 1960s. The history of the château is connected with the Nová Bystřice estate. It was built between 1810 and 1815 at the initiative of the widowed Countess Marie Terezie Trautmannsdorf, in whose honour the entire complex was named Terezínov (Theresienthal). The construction was carried out by the builder František Schneider. The building of the small château was connected with the Countess's plan: in 1811 she established an ironworks and forge beside the nearby Osika pond. After 1816 the estate changed hands frequently, and the small château served as an office building of the ironworks. In 1909 Terezínov was sold to the Jewish Kern family from Vienna. After the Munich Agreement and the annexation of the Nová Bystřice region by the German Reich, the estate was acquired by the Hungarian jurist Béla Wodianer de Maglod. With the advent of the communist regime the château was nationalised. A succession of institutions occupied it: the Timber Industry Works, the State Farms, and Kablo Kladno. During the socialist period the building deteriorated rapidly and by the 1980s had become a ruin. After 1989 a new owner took on the task of restoration and began a systematic programme of work. Gradually static consolidation was carried out, the roof with the small tower was restored, the brick vaults on the ground floor were renewed, and the château received new Classicist-style windows. Between 2021 and 2023 the façade was restored. An apartment has been created on the ground floor; the remaining spaces are planned for social and cultural events, or possibly for a museum or gallery.