Castle Hluboká

The oldest predecessor to the present-day chateau was an early Gothic castle built around 1250. In the Middle Ages the castle was alternately an aristocratic property and a site of royal administration. In 1562 King Ferdinand I sold Hluboká together with inheritance rights to the Lords of Hradec who changed the castle into a Renaissance stately home. A century later the Hluboká estate was bought off by Jan Adolf I of Schwarzenberg, a noted European diplomat and the founder of the family branch, which had stayed in South Bohemia for almost three hundred years. At the beginning of the 18th century Prince Adam František, Jan Adolf's grandson, had the chateau rebuilt in Baroque style by P. I. Bayer and his successor E. Martinelli.
In the latter half of the 19th century Prince Jan Adolf II and his wife Eleonora ordered another reconstruction, this time in the Romantic style. After their return, they invited a Viennese architect Franz Beer to take charge of the rebuilding project. In 1840 the demolition of the castle proceeded from the back wing towards the entrance gate and, in the course of time, its Baroque style gradually changed into the picturesque style of Tudor Gothic. It should be noted that Hluboká castle used to be surrounded by a large settlement, which had been removed before the reconstruction began. Another architect, Ferdinand Deworetsky, also played a prominent role in the castle's reconstruction when he took control of the work after Beer's death. The reconstruction was completed in 1871. Although the Schwarzenbergs never lived in Hluboká permanently, they maintained it with great care. In 1939 the last owner of Hluboká, Prince Adolf Schwarzenberg, left for Italy to escape the Nazis and subsequently moved to the United States. Since he did not return after the war, the possessions of the Schwarzenberg's inheritance by birthright were placed under then the Czechoslovak state administration and later, under the law introduced by the state in 1947, became the property of the then Czechoslovak Republic.
Hluboká is without a doubt one of the most beautiful castles in Bohemia. The walls and ceilings of the stately halls on the first story of the castle are panelled with precious wood with unusually rich workmanship and carving decoration.

The bedroom and dressing room of princess Eleonor, the Hamilton's closet and the reading room are all decorated with paintings by European masters of the 16th - 18th centuries, beautiful chandeliers, late Renaissance window panes, and Delft china. The most precious pieces of furniture are situated in the Morning Drawing Room and complemented with painted Chinese vases from the 18th century.
The portraits on the walls of the Morning Drawing Room, small dining room, smoking and reception rooms depict the most important members of the Schwarzenberg lineage. On the walls of the great dining room are exhibited a valuable collection of tapestries, woven in Brussels in the first half of the 17th century.
The biggest hall is the library with a panel ceiling, transferred to Hluboká from the family castle of the Schwanzenbergs. The armoury at Hluboká is of a very high standard. The late Gothic altar with dominates the Gothic Revival chapel carved folding wings.
Today, in the former castle riding school, is situated a South Bohemia Gallery of Mikuláš Aleš, with an outstanding exhibition of Gothic paintings and statues as well as of Dutch and Flemish art from the 17th and 18th centuries and with changeable exhibitions in the main hall. In the mid 19th century a riding lodge was built next to the castle. Today it houses the Aleš South Bohemian Gallery, which displays exquisite Gothic paintings and statues.