Štětkovice Chateau

Štetkovice is a chateau in the village of Sedlčan in the district of Příbram, located in the Central Bohemia region. It is a cultural monument, whose area deserves the attention of those who are looking for authentic traces of local history and архitektur changes of Czech nobility.

Now the monument dates back to the end of the sixteenth century when it was part of the Kosovo estate. The breakthrough moment for its development came in 1670, when the village with its property bought Jakub Pecelius z Adlersheimu and made Štětkovice the centre of its small estate. The chateau itself was supposed to be founded in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, with local traditions and signs of building history indicating that it was perhaps standing on the site of an older fortress. The following centuries have brought a frequent rotation of owners - typical of aristocratic settlements of this size.

The crucial point in the eighteenth century was the year 1787 when Franz Müller bought the property from Josef Lipovský z Lipovice. His family will keep Stetkovice until 1873 - almost a hundred years. The owner changed again: in the 1970s he owned the castle Karel Skal, since 1880 he owned the castle Leopold Pollak. Pollak's family tragically lost their property during the revision of the first land reform, the transformation of Czech society after the First World War. In the second half of the twentieth century, the chateau was transformed into part of a state farm where it served economic needs.

From an architectural point of view, Štetkovice is a single-storey building with a rectangular plan and a characteristic central risalita - a simple but harmonious form which notably reflects the efforts of the Czech lesser nobility to be representative without excessive grandeur. The chateau stands on the southern edge of the economic court, from which it probably once radiated its authority over the surrounding property. Economic buildings have changed over the years, some have died, but their memories persist. The original complex has been preserved in the form of protected buildings mainly by a hoarder and a former brewery, which is interestingly located on the opposite side of the pond.

The chateau area is not only a building remnant - it is also composed of the remnants of a wall with a gate, a historically important pond and an adjacent park, which create a comprehensive picture of the former mansion. Due to the designation as a cultural monument, Štetkovice is a protected statement about the transformation of Czech society, from the noble ambitions to the буржoasis administration to the socialist economy. For the visitor they represent a self-evident insight into the period when such a residence was determined by the face of the Czech village.