Sychrov Castle Zámek Sychrov

The beginnings of Sychrov go back to the 15th century when a hill-fort stood on the premises of the current building. The estate was owned by various noble Bohemian families such asVartenberks or Wallensteins. The first proper aristocratic manor was a small baroque castle commissioned by Lamottes of Frintropp and built between1690 and 1693. The most important era of Sychrov begun in 1820 when the castle was bought by the House of Rohan, old French ducal family.

The first Rohan owner of Sychrov Castle was Prince Charles Alain de Rohan who had the house enlarged into a grand chateau in Neo-Classical style. However Charles’ heir and nephew Prince Camille de Rohan decided to refurbish the castle into fashionable Neo-Gothic style influenced mostly by French and English Gothic. This transformation was executed by Joseph Pruvot, an architect whose father came here with Rohan family from France. Most of the carved wooden elements in castle interiors and furniture was made by the master craftsman Petr Bušek and his workshop. 

The castle served as a Rohan main residence till 1945 when all the property was confiscated by Czech government as a consequence of WW2 because the family accepted German citizenship.

What originally started as small baroque castle is now one of the largest country residences in North Bohemia region.

From baroque house to princely residence

It was the Lamotte of Frintropp family that built the first aristocratic residence on the site of a former hill-fort. The baroque castle consisted of one three storey wing with a tower on south end and additional one storey service buildings on the west side. The family resided in this manor for five decades but later sold it to Wallenstein family who had their residence elsewhere. For 80 years the building stood neglected and mostly uninhabited.

The situation changed in August 1820 when the estate was purchased by Prince Charles Alain Gabriel de Rohan who immediately started late Neo-Classical transformation of the baroque core. The main wing (East Wing) was prolonged on both ends and the crumbling tower dismantled completely. The service buildings were enlarged and got additional storey to form new wings (South Wing and North Wing) and new West Wing was built to enclose the courtyard. On both ends of the West Wing two more wings were built, the L-shaped Bertha's Wing on the south end and simple wing with a large gallery/theater space on the north end. Together with two stable buildings and a rectory the Gallery, The West Wing and Bertha's wing created a formal cour d'honneur enclosed on three sides.

Neo-Gothic transformation

The second owner, Charles' nephew Prince Camille Phillip Joseph de Rohan, started another transformation and refurbishment of the castle in 1847. All of the facades were given a gothic-revival apearance, towers (Breton and Austrian Towers) were added on both ends of the East Wing and new open staircase replaced the old one on the garden side. Stone and wooden embelishments were given a particular importance in creating a fairy-tale-like medieval castle fantasy.

A particular attention went to creanting the interiors. The decor of both representative and private rooms was carefully thought through in order to reflect the importance and rich history of Prince Camille's family. Emblems from the family crest embelished most of the surfaces, wainscoting, coffered ceilings and furniture. Most of the changes were designed by architect Joseph Pruvot and personally approved and in some cases altered by Prince Camille himself. The owner and the architect worked closely together to bring Camille's ideas to fruition.

Modern aristocratic residence

When Prince Camille passed away in 1892 the castle immediately underwent another transformation. Formal living spaces were turned into welcoming family rooms, the Royal Appartment that once hosted various members of european royal families was turned into nursery rooms and electricity was installed under the supervision of Camille's heir and grand-nephew Alain Arthur Benjamin de Rohan who resided at Sychrov till his death in 1914.

His son and heir Alain took hold of his late father's estate in 1917 and when he married in 1921 his wife Margarethe did not much care for Neo-Gothic decor. Therefore some of the rooms lost their original appearance. Neo-Gothic furniture was replaced by less grand but more comfortable pieces and rather dark rooms were transformed into lighter and more welcoming ones. The house however lost the carefully and well-thought of appearance. Similar procedure were undertaken with the facades.

Despite these sometimes drastic changes and alterations the castle is still one of the best examples of Gothic Revival architecture in Bohemia.