Žireč Castle

Žireč castle is located in the village of the same name near Dvůr Králové nad Labem. It was created in the seventeenth century when the Jesuits rebuilt an older medieval fortress. For most of the nineteenth century it served as a private residence, and from the second half of the twentieth century it has been used for social and healthcare purposes. The entire complex is protected as a cultural monument.

The first written mention of Žireč dates from thirteen eighteen. The owners of the village were vassals of the Trutnov castle and resided in the fortress which is first mentioned in fourteen eighty-two. The estate then frequently changed hands. In fifteen fourteen, King Vladislav Jagellonský exempted it from feudal obligations. The estate then split among several owners until it was repurchased between fifteen twenty-six and fifteen thirty-four by Jiří z Gersdorfu. In fifteen thirty-nine it was acquired by Adam Zilvár z Pilníkova and the Zilvár family held the property for several decades.

In fifteen eighty-one part of the fortress collapsed into the Elbe River. The then owners, Adam Zilvár and his wife Anna z Gryspachu, had it restored. When Adam died in fifteen ninety-seven, his family erected a tombstone for him in the local church. Because he was a Protestant, the Jesuits later had it removed and destroyed. His son Jan Zilvár participated in the Estates Rebellion and after sixteen twenty fled the country and lost all his property. The estate was purchased by Marie Magdalena Trčková z Lípy, but in sixteen thirty-four it was confiscated by the royal chamber. A year later King Ferdinand the Third granted Žireč and Žacléř to the Vienna Jesuits.

During the Thirty Years War the fortress was damaged. After sixteen fifty-two the Jesuits built a new residence in its place and right next to it between sixteen sixty-eight and sixteen ninety-eight built the Church of Saint Anna. Under the influence of the Šporks from nearby Kukus they had the surrounding area populated with small religious buildings and statues. Josef Pacák from Žireč, a student of Matěj Bernard Braun, contributed to their creation. The Jesuits expanded the estate to nineteen villages and with Emperor Leopold the First they achieved the elevation of Žireč to a city. After the order was dissolved in seventeen seventy-three the state administered the estate and its revenues went to the Czech study fund.

In eighteen twenty-five Martin Wagner purchased the Žireč domain at a public auction. His son sold the large estate in eighteen eighty-eight to the Jaroměřsk factory owner Josef Ettrich. Working as an accountant in the castle brewery was the later composer and musician Rudolf Antonín Dvorský.