Lnáře
- Classification
- Château
- Pays
- Tchéquie
- Région
- Strakonice
- Adresse
- Lnáře 1, 387 42 Lnáře
The four-winged Baroque chateau at Lnáře was built in the second half of the 17th century beside an earlier manor. The complex, complemented by rich sculptural decoration and a Romantic landscape park, has been an immovable cultural monument since 1963. The original seat of the independent noble estate, a stone Gothic manor, was established at Lnáře before 1318. The first explicit mention of the manor at Lnáře dates from 1465. Around this time the manor was also given a Gothic remodelling and expanded into the form of a fortified château. Around 1597 the Gothic manor was given a Renaissance remodelling by Volf Novohradský. In 1659 (or 1660) Aleš Ferdinand Vratislav of Mitrovic became the owner of the estate. As the old seat no longer met his requirements for comfort and representation, he probably commenced around 1666 the construction of a new early Baroque chateau in its vicinity. He died before the building was completed, however. In 1682 Lnáře passed to Tomáš Zachariáš (Zachäus) Černín, who between 1683 and 1686 completed the construction of the chateau to the designs of the Italian architect and builder Giovanni Battista Maderna. Ownership of the Lnáře estate subsequently passed through the Künigl, Sweerts-Sporck, Thun, Linker, and Lingenau families. In 1923 the Prague merchant Karel Bondy acquired the Lnáře estate and altered the chateau façade to its present appearance. In 1936 the Prague lawyer JUDr. Jindřich A. Vaníček purchased the chateau. During the Second World War the chateau was used as a Hitler Youth training centre, and at the end of the war soldiers of General Patton's Third Army were quartered there. After the war the chateau was returned to JUDr. Jindřich A. Vaníček, but already in 1948 it was nationalised along with the entire estate. In 1972 a costly reconstruction of the dilapidated chateau began, and from 1985 the building was used by the Government Office as a recreation centre for senior Communist officials. In 1992 the chateau together with the estate was returned to the family of JUDr. J. A. Vaníček, and in 1999 the owners opened the chateau to the public for the first time in its history. Lnáře Chateau is an ideal venue for significant social, cultural, and commercial events. From April to October visitors may view the interiors and exteriors of the chateau on three visitor routes.