Staré Hobzí Castle
The baroque castle from 1733 - relax "like a king".
STARÉ HOBZÍ CASTLE
Staré Hobzí (Althart) is located in the so-called "Bohemian Canada". This is the name given to an area in the south of the Czech Republic, on the historical border between Bohemia and Moravia. It also borders the state border with Austria.
This is a former hunting lodge with a wonderful vault fresco Mariae Krönung by Felix Thomas Anton Scheffler (1728) which is located in the chapel. The baroque castle is a three-storey three-wing building with an elevation of the central building from the 17th century and has been a listed building since May 3, 1958.
There was originally a fortress on the grounds of the castle, mentioned around 1353. Originally the castle had a square floor plan with a closed courtyard and arcades. The eastern side of the courtyard was badly damaged by fire in earlier times and was therefore torn down. In the 19th century, it was rebuilt in the classical style. The palace was built under Max Franz Freiherr v. Deblin 1726 and was completed by his son Franz Anton in 1733.
The castle chapel was erected in the course of the construction work and is decorated with rich bandwork on the ceiling and walls (around 1728). The vault fresco shows Mariae Coronation, in the corners the four evangelists were depicted by Felix Thomas Anton Scheffler in 1728. A reliquary, consecrated in 1673, is also located in the chapel.
In 1702 the estate was bought by Max Franz von Deblin, who began to rebuild the castle in its present form in 1726. In 1784 Max Franz Graf von Deblin was murdered. On January 1st, 1842 the castle was handed over to Marquis Alphonse Pallavicini sen. after he had bought the Staré Hobzí Castle on December 29, 1841 from Countess Therese Trautmannsdorf in the course of the recognition of the Bohemian inculpation. She had acquired the castle and other properties on December 27, 1823.
The Pallavicini family mostly stayed in their castle in Jemnice during the summer, but in the Viennese palace in winter. The castle in Staré Hobzí was set up to accommodate summer guests. In 1910 there were 30 apartments with one to three rooms in the building.
The palace was owned by the Pallavicini family until 1927. The manorial land was expropriated in the course of the land reform in 1924. The last owner, Alexander Margrave Pallavicini, was allowed to keep the castle. With a purchase contract dated December 13, 1927, the castle passed to eight citizens of Alt-Hart, later it was nationalized.
In 1927 there was a Czech kindergarten and a nursing home in the castle. In 1931 the mayor's office and apartment were also located in the castle. During the Second World War, the palace served the needs of the German Empire; the municipal office, the registry office, the gendarmerie office, the local party group and later the chemistry laboratory of the Vienna Drägerwerke were located on the first floor.
Hungarian and German prisoners of war arrived with the Red Army on May 12, 1945 and were held captive in a nearby three square kilometer field. After the outbreak of the typhus epidemic and other diseases, the Red Army set up a prison hospital in the castle building. In the palace park, where they were guarded by the Russians, 4,000 refugees from Silesia had to camp outdoors for weeks.
After this bad time, the building was used as a school. In 1989 the castle was sold to several private owners, who left this jewel to its fate.
In 2014 the baroque palace got a new owner, who revitalized it in the following years according to the regulations of the monument protection.
Due to renovation work, the castle will be closed until autumn 2021. We ask for your understanding