Hrádek u Sušice
- Clasificación
- Château
- País
- Chequia
- Región
- Klatovy
- Dirección
- Hrádek 1, 342 01 Sušice
The chateau at Hrádek stands on the site of a 14th-century manor and is situated approximately 5 km north-west of Sušice. The chateau complex has been protected as a cultural monument since 1964. The origins of the original village date back at the latest to the 13th century, when the village and its seat were owned by members of the family of the lords of Kasejovic. The first of them recorded is Přibyslav of Hrádek, mentioned in 1298. By 1371 at the latest Hrádek was joined to the Velhartice estate. The Hrádek manor was subsequently abandoned as superfluous and fell into ruin. Around 1560 the Velhartice estate was divided and the part containing Hrádek with the ruined manor fell to Jan Rendl of Úšava. In 1568 Vojtěch and Jan Račín of Račín became the owners of the estate, and after 1568 rebuilt the old manor in the Renaissance spirit. In 1598 Adam Račín of Račín became the sole owner of the Hrádek estate; his son Humpreht Račín of Račín participated in the Estates' Uprising of 1618–1620. For this he was condemned in 1623 to the conversion of his free estate to a fief. He later succeeded in buying himself out of the feudal obligation, but his son Arnošt Vojtěch of Račín sold the Hrádek estate in 1685 (or 1683) to Jan Heřman Černín of Chudenice. Several further owners followed in the estate, and it was only in 1731 that Jan Ferdinand, Count Des Fours de Montu et Athienville, became its owner. He had a new Baroque chateau built adjacent to the old Renaissance chateau. In 1827 the Hrádek estate was inherited by Karel Theodor Sturmfelder of Oppenweiler. The last owners of the chateau from 1876 were members of the Henneberg-Spiegel family, to whom it belonged until 1945 when it was confiscated. In subsequent years the Hrádek chateau complex was used by the Local National Committee, which established apartments, stores, and a library within it. Through long-term neglect of maintenance the chateau deteriorated and gradually reached a state of structural emergency. In 2000 it was purchased by Ing. arch. Pavel Lejsek, who commenced a reconstruction of the chateau complex and the adjoining park, completed in 2010. The chateau complex today includes a hotel, restaurant, wellness facilities, the Chapel of St Walburga, a small museum gallery, an adventure golf course, and access to the park and a kitchen garden with an orangery. Concerts, festivals, and exhibitions are held here throughout the year. Owing to its romantic setting the chateau is a sought-after venue for civil and church wedding ceremonies.