Zbiroh Chateau

Its founder is considered to be Břetislav of Zbiroh from the Sulislav house. However, as early as 1230, a report mentions certain brothers Chřen and Sulislav of Zbiroh. Later on, the owners of the castle included the Drslavic family, King Přemysl Otakar II, the Rosenberg family, King Sigismund, the Kolowrat family, the Lobkowicz family, Emperor Rudolf II et al. In 1868, it was purchased by the German entrepreneur Baron Bethel Heinrich Strousberg who, in the years 1869 to 1870, rebuilt the castle in the Neo-Renaissance style according to the project of the architect August Orth. In 1879, after Strousberg’s bankruptcy, the empty castle was bought by the Colloredo-Mansfeld family. The painter Alfons Mucha and his family lived in the east wing from 1912 to 1928. Here, in the great hall of the chateau, he painted his famous cycle of paintings, the Slavic Epic, which was exhibited in the chateau in Moravský Krumlov from 1962 to 2011.

Between 1943 and 1945, the chateau housed the headquarters of the SS. Afterwards, it became the property of the Czechoslovak state and was used by the army. After 1989, the castle was acquired by the town of Zbiroh and subsequently sold to the Gastro Žofín Co. in 2004.

Zbiroh Castle is home to a 163-metre deep well, which is the deepest dug well in Europe. The well turns helically in the vertical direction, which is due to the difficult excavation into the extremely hard lydite rock, and has been protected as a cultural heritage monument since 1964. The ‘U Rudolfovy kratochvíle’ restaurant is open daily to guests, as well as an exhibition with a fascinating story of the history of the castle and chateau, as well as the Templar Knights.