zámek Luka nad Jihlavou Chateau

The castle in Lukách nad Jihlavou is a two-storey Baroque structure on the right bank of the Jihlava River. The original castle was built at the end of the sixteenth century, and it acquired its present appearance in the eighteenth century. Since nineteen seventy-two, it has been protected as a cultural monument.

For a long time, it was believed that the castle was preceded by a fortified manor. It is mentioned in a bill of sale from fifteen eighty-four, in which the sons of Jan Zahrádecký ze Zahrádek sold Lukách to the wealthy Jihlava townsman Matouš Grün ze Stürzenberka. However, research has shown that the fortified manor is not connected to the castle. It most likely stood by the church of sv. Bartoloměje on the left bank of the river. Beneath the present castle, on the other hand, remains of a former brewery have been preserved.

The castle thus arose in a new location, on a gentle hillock near the original riverbed. Matouš Grün is considered its founder. It was apparently a hunting lodge or a military fortress. Karel Grün lost the estate because of his participation in the Estates' Revolt. At the end of the Thirty Years' War, when Lukách belonged to the Brtnická Collalts, the castle and brewery were destroyed and burned by the Swedes. The Collalts were seated in Brtnice and did not concern themselves much with Lukách, so the castle fell into disrepair until the beginning of the eighteenth century.

In seventeen eleven, the estate was purchased by the Jihlava district captain Jan Kryštof Říkovský z Dobrčic, who began its restoration. His coat of arms above the window of the northern façade commemorates this. On it is a white stork holding a golden stone in its raised right leg. This motif later became the symbol of Lukách nad Jihlavou.

The decisive renovation was a very costly reconstruction from seventeen thirty-nine to seventeen forty-seven under Maxmilián Oldřich z Kounic. The builder Václav Petruzzi, the stoneworker Václav Winter, the carpentry master Josef Reiter, and the stucco worker Giovanni Battista Ricca took part in it. A three-wing building with mansard roofs in the attic space was created. Between the side wings, a balcony with a colonnade was inserted, on which stood a winter garden. It was lost at the beginning of the twentieth century, and at the same time the stucco decoration of the main staircase was created.

In seventeen sixty-eight, the Widmanns purchased the estate and held it until nineteen forty-five. In eighteen thirty-four, they established an extensive castle park in the English style covering nineteen hectares, which has been preserved to this day. During their rule, a railway from Jihlava to Brno also passed through Lukách. Because of its construction, the course of the river was redirected, and thus a large open space was created in front of the castle.