Velké Meziříčí
- Classification
- Château
- Country
- Czechia
- Region
- Žďár nad Sázavou
- Address
- Zámecké schody 1200/4, 594 01 Velké Meziříčí
Velké Meziříčí château is situated 32 kilometres east of Jihlava and assumed its present form at the end of the 19th century. It has been listed as a protected monument since 1958 and entered on the register of cultural monuments since 1970. The château at Velké Meziříčí evolved through numerous reconstructions of the original late Romanesque castle from the 13th century, built here by the lords of Lomnice family. The castle is indirectly attested as early as 1236, when Budislav of Meziříčí, a member of an important Moravian family bearing a wing as its heraldic device, appears as a witness. The first directly attested record of the castle dates from 1377. The lords of Lomnice held Meziříčí until the end of the 14th century, when the castle and estate were acquired from them by Lacek of Kravař, who strengthened the castle to increase its resistance to attack. After his death in 1416 the estate passed to the Plumlov and then to the Strážnice branch of his family. In the 16th century the Meziříčí castle briefly belonged to the Pernštejn family (1528–1552), who initiated the conversion of the medieval castle into a more comfortable château-like seat. The completion of the Renaissance conversion is dated to 1578, under Alena Meziříčská of Lomnice (1540–1610). After the Berk of Dubá family and the Counts of Kounic, Meziříčí became the seat of the originally Spanish noble family of Ugarte, during whose rule a great fire swept the town and the castle underwent subsequent Baroque remodelling with the participation of the architect Václav Špaček (1733). The financial difficulties of the Ugartes led in 1735 to the sale of the Meziříčí estate to Duke Leopold of Schleswig-Holstein, after whose death Meziříčí passed through the female line to the Liechtenstein and later the Lobkowicz families. Rudolf Lobkowicz (1840–1908), an imperial and royal field marshal lieutenant, had the château remodelled in the then fashionable Neo-Gothic style, giving the entire complex its present appearance. After his death Meziříčí was inherited by his nephew Franz Maria Alfred Count Harrach (1870–1937). In 1909 the latter hosted Emperor Franz Joseph I and Wilhelm II and Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este at the château. In connection with this visit the château was electrified. After his death the château was inherited by his daughter Josefa, married Podstatzká-Lichtenstein (1905–2000). She declared Czech nationality, so the château was not confiscated from her until after 1948; in the restitution proceedings, however, she recovered it in 1995. The château is now owned by Jan Nepomuk Podstatzky-Lichtenstein (*1937) and his sons. Part of the château's premises is used by the Velké Meziříčí Museum and is thus accessible to the public through guided tours.