Duchcov (german: link=no, Dux) is the name of a grand house in the town of

Duchcov Duchcov (; german: Dux) is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,600 inhabitants. Duchcov is known for the Duchcov Castle. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved ...

, located about 8 km from

Litvínov Litvínov (; german: Leutensdorf) is a town in Most District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. It is known as an industrial centre. Administrative parts Litvínov is made up of 12 town parts an ...

, in northern Bohemia,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. The

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

houses a museum with a collection of historic furniture. Also on display is the painting and portrait gallery of the Waldsteins, including portraits of the most famous member of this family,

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the T ...

, Duke of Friedland, by Anthony van Dyck. One room is dedicated to

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

, who was employed here as a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

from 1785 to 1798, and his memoirs ''Histoire de ma vie'' were written here in the years before his death in 1798.

History

The château was founded as a fort in the 13th century by the Hrabišic family, which resided at the Osek Castle. Not earlier than 1527, the

Lobkowicz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the G ...

family replaced the fort with a one-wing

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

palace. Marie Polyxena of Thalmberg, the widow of František Josef of Lobkowicz, married secondly Maximillian, Count of Waldstein in 1642. Their son Jan Bedřich, Count of Waldstein, later the

Archbishop of Prague The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the b ...

, was apprised with the French architect and painter

Jean Baptiste Mathey Jean Baptiste Mathey (1630–1696) was a French architect and painter born in Dijon. Between 1675 and 1694 Mathey enjoyed a remarkable career in which his French planning and devotion to classical rationality (as opposed to the luxuriance of ...

, and he brought him to Duchcov for the purpose of rebuilding the residence. The château was incorporated in the Waldstein's family ''

fideicommis A ''fideicommissum'' is a type of bequest in which the beneficiary is encumbered to convey parts of the decedent's estate to someone else. For example, if a father leaves the family house to his firstborn, on condition that they will bequeath it to ...

'' and passed on through inheritance to Ernst Joseph Count Waldstein and to his descendants until it was nationalised in 1945. Mathey designed a huge Baroque complex, including a large park and a hospital. The decoration of the building was provided by the best Baroque artists in Bohemia, like the sculptors

Matyáš Bernard Braun Matthias Bernard Braun ( Czech: ''Matyáš Bernard Braun'', 24 February 1684 in Sautens near Innsbruck – 15 February 1738 in Prague) was a sculptor and carver active in the Czech lands, one of the most prominent late baroque style sculptor ...

Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokoff Ferdinand Maxmilian Brokoff ( Czech: ''Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokoff''; 12 September 1688 – 8 March 1731) was a sculptor and carver of the Baroque era. Life and career He was born in Červený Hrádek near Jirkov, Bohemia, the second son of El ...

, and painter Václav Vavřinec Reiner. Between 1785 and 1798,

, the so-called secretary of the 18th century, spent the last thirteen years of his amazing life in Duchcov.Rob Humphreys, Tim Nollen (2002)
''Rough guide to the Czech & Slovak Republics''
Rough Guides, 6thed. p. 254. In the 19th century, the château was rebuilt in the classicist style and the garden in the romantic style. The Waldstein family left the place in 1921. At present, the château is state-owned and open to visitors. The garden grounds serve as a public park.

References

External links

Castle of Dux, aerial photo

Usti Region Official site
{{Authority control

Dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms ( doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ...

Castles in the Czech Republic Castles in the Ústí nad Labem Region National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic Museums in the Ústí nad Labem Region

History

See also

References

External links