Stránov is

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Jizerní Vtelno Jizerní Vtelno is a municipality and village in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants. Etymology The name Vtelno is derived from ''vetla'', which is an old Slavic word for 'wil ...

in the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the centre of the regio ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The original

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

castle was reconstructed by Joseph Schulz to the

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

look it has today.

History

In place of the present castle originally stood a wooden

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

, which is noted in 1429 by lord Bohuněk of Stránov. A solid Gothic castle Nový Stránov ('new Stránov') was built on its site by Jaroš of Sovojovice in 1463–1468. From 1545 to 1589 the castle was owned by the

Berka of Dubá Berka of Dubá () was a cadet branch of a Bohemian noble family of Lords of Dubá established by Hynek Berka of Dubá (1249–1306). It held estates in what is today the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany throughout the Middle Ages. Ancestors ...

family. In 1589, Karel of Bieberstein, the Imperial Council and the highest mint master Kingdom of Bohemia, acquired the castle. Later the castle belonged to Michael Slavata from Chlum. During the rule of the family Bieberstein or Slavata, the castle was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. Around 1642, the owner became the nobleman Jan of Lisov. Later Jan's son, Rudolf Adam of Lisov, lived in the castle with his wife Elizabeth Lidmila and she spent many years of her life in the castle. In 1746, the ruler of the castle become by marriage Jan Václav Příchovský of Příchovice. This knight from the leading aristocratic family left around the castle manny visible traces – Stránov was rebuilt in the Baroque style, the castle garden was added (which has since disappeared), sandstone Baroque fountain was built in the castle courtyard and in 1767 Church of Saint Wenceslaus in front of the castle. From 1794, it was owned by free lord Jan Herites, and after his death Václav Vojtěch Herites, and until 1864 Knight Bedřich Neubauer. Present romantic appearance was made during the Neo-Renaissance reconstruction in the late nineteenth century, which was performed in 1890–1894 on project designed by Joseph Schulz builder J. Mráz on order of Lady Marie of Waldstein and Vartemberk. In 1917 the castle was bought by the

Škoda Works The Škoda Works (, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century. In 1859, Czech engineer Emil Škoda bought a foundry and machine factory in Plzeň, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary that had been established ten ye ...

President and Senator in Parliament Josef Šimonek, who was for a contribution to the development of industry promoted to the baron status. His son František Šimonek and his family lived on Stránov until castle was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in 1950. After the nationalization of the castle was used as a

children's home Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fam ...

(in front of the chateau was located Common Agricultural cooperation), which led to a corresponding all non-sensitive adjustments (toilets and washing facilities were built into the main corridors and state rooms, etc.). Since 2003, the castle is back in the hands of the Šimonek family. In 2004, after partial reconstruction of the interiors and exteriors of the castle, the castle was opened to the public for the first time in its history. In summer, the castle hosts many cultural events.

External links

* {{coord, 50, 22, 22, N, 14, 51, 22, E, region:CZ_type:landmark, display=title Castles in the Central Bohemian Region Castles in the Czech Republic Renaissance Revival architecture in the Czech Republic Museums in the Central Bohemian Region Historic house museums in the Czech Republic