Sychrov Castle — the flower of France on Czech soil

One sunny morning I went to Sychrov Castle to chat and ask questions of a man who has worked there for decades.

Dr Miloš Kadlec has been an employee of the state-owned Sychrov Castle since 1984 and its caretaker since 1992.

Text and photo: Boris Kogut.

The present name of Sychrov is connected with the existence of the so-called Sychrov court.

At the beginning of the 15th century there was a fortress here. In the 16th century a noble stone house was built on the site of the fortress. In 1628, Duke Albrecht von Wallenstein bought the castle and the village of Svojkov with the adjacent farm. In 1669, Albrecht’s estate was bought by La Motte von Frintropp, a representative of a French family of knights, who built a small Baroque chateau with a high tower and a chapel on the site in 1690–1693.

The decisive turning point in the further development of the castle came on 30 August 1820, when the estate was purchased by the Austrian Vice-Marshal of French origin, Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan. The princely Rohan family, who were proud of the title «Princes of Royal Blood» in their native France, were forced to leave their homeland due to the dramatic events of the French Revolution and sought refuge in what would become Sychrov Castle.

Thanks to the activities of the Rohans, Sychrov became the flower of France on Czech soil.

Why did Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan buy Sychrov Castle?

Initially, the Rohan aristocrats planned to move from the Austrian monarchy to Poland. However, by chance, the head of the Rohan family ended up in the area of today’s Sychrov Castle.

At that time, the surroundings of the castle looked completely different, there were no forests, there was a wild valley with a river running through it.

All this reminded him of his native Brittany in France, and eventually this area and the surrounding landscape had such a strong effect on Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan that he refused to move to Poland and decided to settle in northern Bohemia, where he bought Sychrov Castle.

I noticed that the castle has a large library and many portraits.

What kind of books are kept here?

The main collection of the library consists of about 7200 books. Most of them are in French, there are hardly any books in Czech, except perhaps a few. The books were brought from France and there are also books from Germany. The oldest books in the archive of the chateau library date from 1408. Among the books you can find a lot of fiction, political literature, historical books, such as the history of fashion, theatre, also the history of countries, philosophical books.

For example, the chief architect of Versailles, Frederic Didier, was always pleased when he visited Sychrov castle and said that Sychrov is a great schoolbook of French history and art. Sychrov Castle also has a unique portrait gallery, the Rohan Portrait Gallery. It is the largest collection of French portraits in Central Europe.

There are 248 portraits brought from France in the 19th century.

You can’t miss the huge English-style palace park. What trees grow here?

The park covers 26 hectares. There is a beautiful greenhouse. Among the many wonderful tree species, it is necessary to highlight the most precious species for the castle park: tulip liriodendron, Rohan beech, eastern maple, catalpa bignonia and others.

According to records, there are 1,872 species and varieties of trees in the park.

Website: www.zamek-sychrov.cz