State chateau of Velké Březno
Welcome in the most beautiful century
The chateau was built as late as from 1842 to 1845 for Count Karel Chotek, at that time the Supreme Burgrave of the Kingdom of Bohemia and approaches for it architect Ludwig Förster.
Second owner of the estate Anton Chotek dit not embark on any extensive changes – discounting the new glasshouse in park in 1879.
His son Karl Maria Chotek decided to reconstruct the chateau completely. The chateau would be renovated in the Neo-Renaissance style for her wife Adelheide Hohenlohe Langenburg, he engages architect Ernst Fleischer. Added were balconies, balustrades, dormer windows, parapets, decorative turrets. The rooms were panelled with wood, salons were furnished with new, modern furniture. The works finished in 1910 when electricity was installed, sanitary installation was built in 1925.
During World War II the family asked to be registered as of German nationality and after the war their property was confiscated and they carried on living in Germany. In Bavarian Aichach the childless couple also died one shortly after the other. The death of this Karel Chotek also means the end of the old, original genuine Czech family of the counts of Chotkov and Vojnín.
After the World War II, all of the furniture from the whole chateau, was taken away to other chateaus and castles, sold or destroyed. For many years afterwards the chateau served first as a foster home, later as a political school of the Communist Party and then it was taken over by the army. However, at the end of the 1960’s it was decided that the chateau should be restored to its original condition as you could see today.
Daguerrotype
During Chotek´s state visit to Bavaria a group portrait of Count Chotek´s family and friends was made by the method of dagurrotype. The picture was taken in Munich on Sunday 4 November 1839. Daguerrotype is the first used photopgraphic technique with an image created by silver amalgam. It was named in honor of its creator Luis Jaques Daguerr who published his invention for the first time on 19 August 1839 in Paris. Our picture is not only the oldest photo in the collections of the state Chateaux of Velké Březno but also belongs tot the oldest extant group portraits in the world. Its totally unique.