Mlýnce Castle: A Romantic Neo-Gothic Noble Residence in Czechia
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 3.1
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Czechia
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page12 sections
History
Mlýnce Castle is a late-nineteenth-century Romantic Neo-Gothic castle in Czechia, located southwest of the village of Mlýnce in the Vroutek area. A minor noble seat existed there by 1375, while the first recorded mention of a fortified residence dates to 1603, when Wenzel Harant von Kořen inherited the estate.
From noble seat to Baroque castle
The Lords Stampach von Stampach acquired Mlýnce in 1614. From 1652, the estate belonged to the baronial branch of the Kager von Stampach family. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, this family had enlarged its holdings to include Widhostitz, Lust, and Drahenz.
After 1733, Wenzel Kager von Stampach, captain of the Saaz district, commissioned a Baroque castle to replace the older fortress. In 1756, he enlarged the Linz lordship with the Leschkau estate and its Przibenz and Mokotill farms. General Karl Kager von Stampach later converted the estate into a majorat in 1761. A majorat was an inheritable estate intended to remain intact within a family under fixed succession rules.
In 1765, Karl’s nephew Franz Wenzel, Imperial Count Kager von Stampach, inherited the Linz fideicommiss estate. This restricted hereditary estate comprised Linz, Lust, Widhostitz, Mokotill, Przibenz, Leschkau, and Wes, together with the separate Neuhof farm.
Inheritance and nineteenth-century rebuilding
When Johann, Imperial Count Kager von Stampach, died in 1830, the family’s male line ended. The fideicommiss passed to his sister Maria, who was married to Pachta von Rayhofen. After the newly formed Pachta von Stampach branch also died out in the male line, the Kager von Stampach majorat was dissolved.
The lordship was sold in 1852 to the entrepreneurs Johann Baptist Riedl von Riedenstein and Johann Anton von Starck. Riedl acquired Starck’s share in 1855, and Riedl’s heirs sold the lordship to Josephine Baernreither in 1868. Between 1883 and 1889, Joseph Maria, Alphons Maria, and Georg Maria Baernreither commissioned the replacement of the old Baroque castle with the present Romantic Neo-Gothic building. They also created the surrounding landscape park and redesigned nearby Lust Castle.
The castle housed a large weapons collection, archaeological finds from the surrounding area, and an extensive library. These collections formed part of the residence’s cultural and historical character during the Baernreither period.
State ownership and modern reconstruction
After the Second World War, the castle was nationalized. From 1950, it served the Lubenec state farm as offices, housing, and a canteen, while the building was allowed to deteriorate. It became a cultural monument in 1964.
A fire in 1967 resulted in the demolition of one wing. The northeastern corner tower was left standing separately, and only the section containing the kitchen and canteen was specifically renewed. The castle is now owned by a Prague-based company and has undergone progressive reconstruction since the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Remains
Mlýnce Castle stands in an extensive park on the right bank of the Mlýnecký potok. The late-nineteenth-century building was arranged as a single-storey structure with four wings, two prominent corner towers, and a rectangular internal courtyard surrounded by covered arcades. Its Romantic Neo-Gothic design revived medieval forms through towers, stepped elements, arcades, and historically inspired massing.
Castle buildings
Main castle
The castle’s four wings enclosed a rectangular courtyard. Covered stairways occupied two opposing corners of the courtyard, while a mansard roof carried dormer windows with stepped gables. The fire-damaged complex lost one wing in 1967. Since then, the northeastern corner tower has stood separately, and the kitchen-and-canteen section is the part specifically described as renewed.
Holy Trinity Chapel
A chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity extended from the western side of the castle. The Holy Trinity is the Christian doctrine of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The chapel formed part of the castle complex rather than a separate structure within the park.
Landscape park
Northern approach
The park contained a fountain and a circular pond on its northern side. The northern approach followed a chestnut avenue whose branches formed a closed canopy in summer. Orchards and vegetable gardens were arranged along the avenue.
Southern and eastern grounds
In the southern part of the park, cast-iron pergola walks were covered with climbing roses. Flower groups, ornamental trees, and a lawn-tennis court occupied the surrounding grounds. Tall chestnut trees stood in the eastern section, which had an exit toward the village.
Service buildings and lookout route
The gardener’s house, stables, and coach house stood in the western part of the park, partly concealed by deciduous and coniferous trees. Promenade paths connected the park with the Vochlice lookout tower on K Vescům hill, the highest point of the wooded strip adjoining the park to the south. During the second half of the twentieth century, the park became overgrown.
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