Ratibořice Castle

Ratibořice Castle, east side

Ratibořice Castle [ˈracɪbor̩ɪt͡sɛ] (German: Ratiborschitz ) is located on the Aupa near Česká Skalice . It belongs to the Okres Náchod in the Czech Republic .

history

Ratibořice village and castle were first mentioned in 1388 as the property of Vaněk von Žampach . In 1464 they belonged to the Rýzmburk domain , but the castle is said to have been abandoned in 1534. Jaroslav Smiřický von Smiřice bought it in 1582 and incorporated it into his Nachod rule , with whom it remained connected until modern times.

In 1708, Lorenzo Piccolomini had the builder Andreas Tetílek from Hohenmauth build a Baroque palace in the Italian style on the site of an older manor house , to which an elongated wing for servants was added in the 18th century. 1810–1812, the palace was rebuilt in Empire style as a summer residence for Duchess Katharina Wilhelmine von Sagan .

In June 1813, the Austrian Chancellor Metternich and the Russian Tsar Alexander I met in the palace . Together with other high-ranking personalities, they held preliminary talks here for the subsequent negotiations at Opočno Castle on the further course of action of the Alliance against Napoleon I.

After Wilhelmine's death, her sister Pauline von Hohenzollern sold the Ratibořice Castle together with the Nachod reign to Octavio zur Lippe-Biesterfeld , who sold it in 1842 to Prince Georg Wilhelm from the ruling house of Schaumburg-Lippe , in whose family it remained until it was expropriated in 1945. In 1864 Charlotte zu Schaumburg-Lippe (1864–1946) was born here, from 1891 to 1918 the last Queen of Württemberg. Friedrich zu Schaumburg-Lippe , the last owner of the Nachod estate, lived with his wife Louise of Denmark at Ratibořice Castle until Louise died in 1906. As a German citizen, Prince Friedrich was deported after the end of the Second World War on May 12, 1945 across the nearby state border to Sackisch in Glatzer Land , which fell to Poland after the end of the war in 1945 . There he died on December 12, 1945 in the "Vier Linden" inn. After consultation between the Polish and Czech authorities, his body was transferred to Nachod and quietly buried in the old military cemetery ( cemetery on the white cross in Nachod ) near the castle.

Aerial view of the palace area

The well-known Czech writer Božena Němcová spent her childhood in Ratibořice. Her autobiographical novel Babička made the village with the castle and its surroundings famous. The lady of the castle Wilhelmine von Sagan also plays an important role in the novel.

Nearby are the picturesque Babiččino údolí ( Grandmother's Valley ) and Staré Bělidlo ( Old Bleach ) ( 50 ° 25 ′ 29.6 ″  N , 16 ° 2 ′ 56.8 ″  E ) .

literature

• Erhard Gorys : Czech Republic. Culture, landscape and history in Bohemia and Moravia (= DuMont documents. DuMont art travel guide ). DuMont, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-7701-2844-3 .
• Joachim Bahlcke , Winfried Eberhard, Miloslav Polívka (eds.): Handbook of historical places . Volume: Bohemia and Moravia (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 329). Kröner, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-520-32901-8 , pp. 509-510.
• Milan Záliš: Tři sta let od zahájení výstavby zámku v Ratibořicích. 1702-2002. In: Rodným Krajem. Issue 26, 2003, pp. 9-11.

Web links

Commons : Ratibořice chateau  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• On Božena Němcová's footsteps: Ratibořice Castle on Radio Praha (German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bo Bramsen: Huset Glücksborg. Europe's svigerfader and hans efterslægt. Volume 2, Copenhagen 1992, ISBN 87-573-1843-6 , pp. 336-340. (Danish)
2. ↑ Lydia Baštecká, Ivana Ebelová: Náchod , Náchod 2004, ISBN 80-7106-674-5 , p. 245.

Coordinates: 50 ° 24 ′ 54 ″  N , 16 ° 3 ′ 9 ″  E