Information & Pictures about Liberec - Castle Sychrov

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The castle Sychrov
The picturesque valley of the Mohelka stream is lined on either side by a series of hills, separated one from another by sunny openings framed with arrays of needle-tree forest, the scant remnants of a large virgin forest that once stretched across Ještěd Ridge from the River NISA to the river Jizera. A mighty river in the primeval times, forced to squeeze its way through a belt of mountains, the mohelka has since shrunk in size to that of a stream vigilantly guarding the beauty of the valley through which it wends its way. The special beauty and unique atmosphere of this area are further enhanced by a host of small villages and hamlets with their picturesque wooden cottages and brick houses  scattered across the local hills. "The romantic Sychrov manor house rises above the wild valley of the Mohelka stream as if emerging from a world of fairytales". This is how Bohdan Kaminský, a novelist and the native of Sychrov, described the the location of this jewel of architecture. The romantic Neo-Gothic alterations carried out between 1847 and 1862 on a design by Bernard Grueber, a professor at the academy of fine arts, transformed the Sychrov manor house into one of the most splendid examples of the school of 19th century architecture which built using previous styles. The history of the manor house's location goes back to the 15th century when a small fortified settlement belonging to the Royal chamber of Bohemia stood there. After that had been destroyed, a stone residence was erected on the site, to be followed by a smallish baroque manor house, the construction of which was initiated by the Lamotte knights of Frintropp, a French family of nobles, between 1690 and 1693. During the thirty years of war, members of that family, like many other foreign officers, were rewarded for there services to the Emperor of Austria with estates confiscated from the Czech nobility.

In 1740 the demesne was purchased by František of Valdštejn (Waldstein), a member of the Mnichovo Hradiště branch of the Waldstein family. Since the Waldsteins had their main residence in Mnichovo Hradiště, the Sychrov manor house's importance diminished in status. As a result, the building was spared any major changes for nearly eight decades, being used as lodgings for servants and serving agricultural purposes. A turning point in the manor house's history came on August 30, 1820, when Charles Alain Gabriel Rohan obtained the Svijany demesne, together with Sychrov, thus ushering in the 125 year-long era of the Rohan family, which coincided with its heyday. The Rohans came from Brittany, where the oldest record attesting to the existence of this family of nobles, dating from 951, is still available. In the course of time the Rohans' position strengthened to such an extend that they came to rank among the ten most influential noble families in France. Cousins of the Kings of France, they were entitled to use the title "Princes of Royal blood". Several branches of the Rohan Family of nobles emerged in the course of centuries, their members holding prestigious positions in military. political and church institutions. After the French Revolution the family was forced to leave its homeland and settle in the Austrian Empire. Contrary to other noble refugees, who has a rule returned to France at a later stage, the Rohans opted to remain in Bohemia, then under Austrian rule, in spite of calls for them to return home. The Rohans chose Sychrovas their main family residence, although the small, rather dilapidated Baroque manor house naturally failed to correspond to the requirements placed on a princely court. Thus with the first owner, Charles Alain Gabriel Rohan, as Lord, large scale reconstruction  work commenced on the building with the aim of changing it into a stately Empire style residence. Completed in 1834, the manor house did not retain its appearance for long, since it was soon to undergo further alternations in the Neo-Gothic style. These were initiated by Prince Camille Joseph Idesbald Rohan, Who entrusted them exclusively to Czech artists and artisans, the most prominent of them being Petr Bušek, a carver of unusually creative, highly distinctive talent, who succeeded in turning the manor house interiors into a showcase of artistic treasures imbued with a unique atmosphere. Prince Camille Rohan also placed great emphases on the building's environs, especially the surrounding English park, which flourished most in his lifetime, becoming a model for a number of now famous arboreta. At that time, then, the manor house, its interiors, and the park coexisted in unique harmony. The Sychrov of today boasts the second largest collection of furnishings and works of art on display in a manor house in the Czech Republic after the Konopiště manor house. Its core is formed by the manor house's original Neo-Gothic furnishings, in addition to the largest collection of French portrait art in Central Europe, brought to Sychrov by the Rohans. Known as the Rohan Gallery, the collection contains 248 high quality portraits, depicting among others a number of prominent personalities familiar to visitors from historical novels. Another aspect of Sychrov manor house's high repute lies in its once having played host to Antonín Dvořák, a genius of Czech and World music, who made frequent visits there at the invitations of his friend Alois Göbel, the estate's administrator.  Dvořák composed a number of his famous works , including the Concerto for violin in A minor, opus 53, while staying at the manor house. Sychrov continues to resound with music today, since it has become a venue for concerts of classical music, theatre performances staged in the manor house park, and a music festival known as "Dvořák's Turnov and Sychrov". Visitors of the manor house are offered a sightseeing tour of 35 interiors with their authentic furnishings, of which the most remarkable are the chapel, the hall and staircase, the suite of the Prince's mother, the hunting lounge, the family museum. the Prince's private chambers, the ladies' suite, and the rooms set aside for ceremonial and special purposes. The manor house's administrators are currently considering plans to expand the sightseeing tour to include second-floor guest chambers in the eastern wing and the so called Royal suite, in which King Charles X of France, Emperor Franz Josef of Austria and a number of other prominent figures of political life once stayed. In addition to sightseeing tours and concerts, the Sychrov manor house, a national cultural monument, offers its visitors the opportunity to enjoy displays of historical fencing and falconry, historical fairs with displays of traditional Czech crafts and Medieval-style banquets. Moreover, the manor house serves as a popular venue for both civil and church weddings.