Chudenice Castle

Chudenice is a stronghold that was later rebuilt into a chateau in the town of the same name in the Klatovy region. The village belonged to the Černín family from the end of the thirteenth century, after whom they took their name. The first known member of the family who owned Chudenice was Drslav of Chudenice, mentioned in 1291 as a land judge. His descendants Černín and Kunrát of Chudenice founded a chaplaincy at the local church in 1358. A Gothic stronghold probably already stood there at that time.

The first written mention of the stronghold, however, dates back to 1603. Then brothers Jindřích and Adam Černín divided their inheritance after their father Humprecht, and Chudenice went to the younger Adam. The deed describes a well-built stone stronghold with a courtyard and a large distillery. The building likely already had the appearance of a Renaissance chateau.

Adam Černín was a Catholic, yet he joined the Estates' Rebellion. The court acquitted him of charges in 1622, and he died that same year. The chateau was plundered by the army at that time. The estate was then managed by his brother Jindřích until Děpolt Protiva, Adam's son, came of age in 1629. After his death in 1660, his widow looked after the estate, and later his son Jan Heřman inherited it. However, he became so heavily indebted that he could not even pay taxes. The chateau was eventually purchased by Count Humprecht Jan Černín for the Nedrahovská branch of the family, and from that point on it no longer served as a noble residence.

In 1776, according to a design by builder Karel Balling, it was remodeled in the Baroque style into apartments for estate officials. By the mid-nineteenth century, it managed an estate that included forty-five villages and the towns of Chudenice and Švihov. The Černín family kept the estate until 1945. The dramatist and librettist Jaroslav Kvapil was born in the Starý chateau in 1868, where his father worked as a physician.

After the war, the Forest Service was based in the building. From 1948, it was used by the municipality for a cinema, library, and apartments among other purposes. The chateau simultaneously became the home of the Museum of Josef Dobrovský.

The Renaissance chateau had a regular floor plan with round bastions at three corners. From that period, there survives what is called the Angel's Room with vaulting dating from around 1600. However, its present appearance is the result of a Neoclassical renovation. The one-story eastern wing is emphasized on the sides by flat risalits with triangular gables, and a passage to the courtyard leads through the one on the left. The fortress walls of the former stronghold and the castle brewery in house number 165 are also heritage protected.