Kněžice
- Classification
- Château
- Pays
- Tchéquie
- Région
- Klatovy
- Adresse
- Petrovice u Sušice 1, 34201, Petrovice u Sušice
- Époque / style
- Art Nouveau
From at least the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries the upper Otava region around Sušice near the Kepelský stream was settled through the influence of gold panning. Alongside the majestic Velhartice, the villages of Kněžice, Petrovice, and Vojetice also came into being, incorporated later precisely into the Velhartice estate. Kněžice became a manorial seat in 1589, when the owner of the Velhartice estate, Jan Jindřich Plánský of Žeberka, converted the Kněžice rectory into a demesne farm and had a manorial seat built for himself at the northern edge of Petrovice. A rapid succession of owners — the Tluks of Vrabí, the Hartman family of Říčany, the Fruvein family of Podolí, and the Malovec of Malovic — came to a halt only in the 18th century, when the earlier manor was remodelled in the Baroque style. In 1737 Count Trauttmansdorff sold the Kněžice estate to Václav Hora, knight of Ocelovice. In the 19th century the Kněžice estate was owned by the knights Hubáček of Kotnov. In 1906 the Kněžice chateau was given an Art Nouveau remodelling by the Hentschel-Heinegg family to designs by the eminent architect, professor at the Vienna Academy and native of Krnov, Leopold Bauer. After the Second World War, from 1955, a home for the elderly was located in the chateau. From 2003 the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic, Niels Brøchner, resided here. The current owners hold classical music concerts, exhibitions, lectures, and fairs at the chateau.