Loučeň Chateau: a romantic hideout attracts visitors from across the globe
Loučeň Chateau is a Baroque estate situated in the town of Loučeň within the Nymburk District. I was given a tour of the chateau by head guide Hana Michalčíková, along with members of our team at Radio Prague, to learn more about its history, the families that made the estate into what it is now, the significance of the estate to the Habsburgs, and more. The tour focuses on the life of the Thurn and Taxis family at the estate at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, important snippets from its history are brought to life on occasion revealing the years the chateau has endured.
As you approach the chateau it appears subtle, with the wings of it welcoming you. The courtyard stretches before you, offering space to inhale the crisp air of rural Central Bohemia. As you see the entrance, the courtyard draws you in, promising a vibrant history to explore and learn from.
Immediately upon entry, you learn that the chateau is three hundred years old. However, the chateau was constructed on the site of a former medieval fortress, with the earliest mention of this fortress dating back to 1223. The same year is also regarded as the first recorded mention of the village of Loučeň. Between this time and 1618, the fortress changed hands among various landowners. The guide summarized the three families that lived in the chateau:
“There were three aristocratic families that lived here in the chateau: the Waldstein family. the House of Fürstenberg, and the last noble family that lived in the castle, at the end of the Second World War, was the family of Thurn and Taxis.”
In 1612, Václav Berka of Dubá the Elder acquired the fortress that would later become the chateau and the neighboring villages. Following the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Berka fled the country, and his fortress was confiscated in 1622 due to his involvement in the estates’ resistance. In 1623, Adam of Waldstein, one of the most significant families who resided here, purchased Berka’s confiscated properties.
But that history does not end there. As we continue our tour, we make our way up the staircase lined with a bright red carpet. We walk past portraits of families, landscapes, and restored ornaments that portray the beauty that adorned the chateau. With each step, we uncover more about the noble families that lived here and how they coped with the wars that struck the region.
For example, during the Thirty Years’ War, the villages around Nymburk suffered greatly due to invading armies. It wasn’t until 1704-1713 that Karel Arnošt of Waldstein began restoring the ruined fortress in Loučeň, transforming it into a Baroque chateau. A chapel was added, later rebuilt as the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
After Karel Arnošt’s death, his daughter Eleanora inherited the estate, passing it on to her daughter Maria Anna, who took a firm hand in managing the estate. Maria Anna married Josef Fürstenberg, transferring Loučeň Chateau from the Waldsteins to the Fürstenberg family. This is the second most significant family that resided at the chateau.
We enter a library that was designed, we were told, to resemble the English clubs in London and Oxford. There, we discuss the various ways that the families acquired money for the estate and for the Habsburgs. This was particularly emblematic of the Thurn and Taxis family which acquired Loučeň Chateau through marriage to a Fürstenberg princess in 1809. Shortly after, in 1813, the family hosted Emperor Franz Joseph I and Russian Tsar Alexander I.
Through the added income and notoriety the chateau gained under the Thurn and Taxis, the grounds of the chateau are given royal semblance. In 1828, under Charles Anselm of Thurn and Taxis, an English park was added to the chateau gardens. In 1834, Charles Anselm also built the Clerk’s House at Loučeň, which now serves as the Hotel Maximilian.
A key part of the exhibition is the postal service under the noble families. The tour guide commented on some of the main ways these noble families made money. Any services concerning the delivery of letters, messages, documents, and so on started with these families in the Middle Ages.
“[Money was made] mainly through the postal system. The postal general manager in the Holy Roman Empire, which encompassed almost all of Europe, I could say, except for France and Scandinavia.”
Along with this wealth, the chateau gained a reputation of housing great riches – and for good reason. The Soviets themselves brought the wealth disparity between the peasants living in the nearby villages and the noble families living here prior to the Second World War to the forefront of imaginations.
“It is difficult to say but it was mainly the inhabitants of this area. But there were other people also and they were stirred up by the Soviet agitators. The Soviet soldiers were in the Castle until the end of July from the beginning of May (1945).”
After a number of decades, the chateau was restored. It opened to the public following a complete restoration from 2000 to 2007. Visitors can now enjoy guided tours led by costumed characters such as a butler, castellan, or princess. The chateau’s English park and hotel were also renovated, and the Loučeň Labyrinth, featuring 11 labyrinths and mazes, was added to the grounds.
In addition to the labyrinths, the park features several ponds, fountains, a ball field, suspended footbridges, and a rope center. Other highlights include an amphitheater, the chateau's orangery, a gazebo, and Prince Alexander's house.
Prior to its opening up to the public it was popular with the intelligentsia, composers, and other noble families.
“An array of celebrities came to the chateau There were writers, journalists from Vienna, Prague, and many very well-known names. The American writer Mark Twain stayed in the Castle for two months during his travels in Europe. After that, Franz Kafka was here. The daughter of our president, Masaryk, came to the Castle because Alexander supported the Red Cross that she founded.
“I have to mention among the regular guests it was Bedřich Smetana. He lived nearby from here in Jabkenice in the village, at the forest house, with his daughter and his son-in-law. From this forest house, he often walked to the chateau. He performed on the piano which you can see in the chateau. It’s the original instrument.”
The chateau continues to draw countless visitors from around the globe. As our tour comes to an end, we bid farewell, with the vibrant chateau standing proudly in the background, fulfilling its promise of history. As the years pass, there is no doubt that it will reveal even more.
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