Blatná - Castle

Castle Blatná is located in the town of the same name about 60 kilometres northwest of České Budějovice, and it has been a protected monument since 1958. Only the uncovered remains of the 13th century Romanesque chapel exist today from the original castle.

In the second half of the 13th century the Bavor family of Strakonice acquired Blatná which they then began making into a more imposing building, surrounding it with a brick wall. After the death of the last member of this family, Břeněk (Břetislav), Blatná was passed on to a distant relative, Jan of Rožmitál, for whom the original Romanesque castle was rebuilt. Blatná became a Gothic fortress with a fortified Gothic entrance tower, and the castle reached its building heyday under Jan's descendants. The late Gothic frescoes in the so-called Knight's Hall of the Bavor’s Palace and in the Green Room in the Castle Tower most probably originate from this time. In 1528 Zdeněk Lev of Rožmitál rebuilt the southwest palace into a magnificent Gothic-Renaissance edifice: the Rejt’s Palace. However, due to debts, his son Adam of Rožmitál had to sell off the entire inheritance. In 1541 Blatná was acquired by Adam of Šternberg, who then sold it in 1555 to two sisters, Kateřina and Anna Řepická of Sudoměř.

In 1577 Blatná was bought by Jan of Rozdražov, whose son then built, next to the Castle Tower, the newest of the Blatná palace buildings - the Renaissance two-storey Rozdražov Palace. In 1695 the Serenyi family acquired Blatná and had the Rozdražov Palace rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1763–1767. In 1798 Blatná was bought by Václav Karel Hildprandt of Ottenhausen and has remained in this family up to the present day, with the exception of the forced interruption during the Communist era. Between 1850 and 1856 the castle underwent modifications in the English Gothic style designed by the architect Bernard Grüber from Munich. In 1952, after the Communist coup, the Hildprandt estate was confiscated and the family forcibly evicted.

After the 1989 revolution the Hildprandt family's confiscated property was returned and today Stephanos Germenis-Hildprandt runs the chateau together with his mother Jana Germenis-Hildprandt. The current owners are working hard in gradually opening up more of the chateau to visitors. The chateau is open to the public during the tourist season and the park is accessible year-round.