HISTORY
OF BRTNICE CASTLE
the original residence of the Valdštejn and Collalto families
The castle, built on the site of the original donjon and later a fortress, stands on a high promontory above the town of Brtnice and, with its size (6,000 m²), visually dominates the surrounding area. The Brtnička stream flowing through the town shaped the eastern slope of the castle hill, while the western slope is formed by a small brook, which, together with another tributary, fills the pond in the park north of the castle. Today, the castle buildings are arranged around three courtyards. The third and oldest courtyard, whose advantageous side forms the original castle core, now opens to the west.
The way in which the Brtnice estate passed into the hands of Hynek I of Valdštejn (around 1409) is not known.
It is possible that this occurred during the numerous pre-Hussite conflicts, to which southern Moravia was heavily exposed, or directly at the beginning of the Hussite Wars. At that time, Brtnice probably had no military value and did not attract attention as a fortified point during the many expeditions passing through the Jihlava region. According to documents, the Valdštejn family acquired it between 1396 and 1399, marking the start of two centuries of development of a large and economically prosperous feudal domain.
The first half of the 15th century is associated with the reconstruction of the donjon into a castle,
which is confirmed by a document from 1436, when, at the request of the citizens of Jihlava, Margrave Albert of Habsburg forbade the continuation of the construction of Brtnice Castle. Initially, it was a simple layout at the end of the promontory, in the area of today’s third courtyard. Access was separated by a neck ditch. The only element of active defense was the northeast semicircular bastion, which still projects from the face of the wall. In roughly this state of construction, the castle was first literally mentioned in 1444 in a document defining the division of family property between Zdeněk of Valdštejn and his nephew Jan (Jindřich).
Zdeněk of Brtnice
of Valdštejn
Before the mid-16th century, during the prosperous period of Zdeněk of Brtnice of Valdštejn, the first phase of transforming the castle into a Renaissance chateau can be dated. Further stages of reconstruction took place under Hynek III of Brtnice of Valdštejn. On the occasion of his marriage to Kateřina Zajímačka of Kunštát, Hynek undertook another significant phase of Renaissance construction at Brtnice Chateau. The building modifications were overseen by the renowned architect Baltazar Maggi de Ronio, as documented directly on the castle by the carved dates 1581 and the coats of arms and names: “Hynek of Brtnice of Valdštejn, governor of the Margraviate of Moravia, 1.1581” and “Kateřina Zajímačka of Kunštát and Jevišovice and at Brtnice 1.1581.” The newly rebuilt chateau also served as a place for Hynek’s official meetings as a provincial official, as evidenced by documents dated “at Brtnice Chateau.”
The last owner of the chateau from the Valdštejn family, after the death of Kateřina Zajímačka in 1601, was Zdeněk IV of Brtnice of Valdštejn, one of the most educated men of his time, who in 1619 became the Estates Director of the Margraviate of Moravia and chamberlain to the “Winter King” Frederick V of the Palatinate. In June 1621, Valdštejn was arrested due to his participation in the Estates’ uprising. Zdeněk was first imprisoned in Jihlava, then at Špilberk, and sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
He spent two years in prison and died on 24 June 1623. Subsequently, his property was confiscated, and Brtnice was acquired from Ferdinand II in 1622 by Count Rambaldo XIII, called “the Great,” from the northern Italian family Collalto et San Salvatore (21 September 1579 – 19 November 1630). As an uncompromising opponent of the Venetian Republic, he chose to seek his fortune in the service of the Emperor and remained loyal to the Habsburg throne until his death. At the age of 26, he rose from a simple soldier to become an imperial military advisor in Hungary. His career after the Battle of White Mountain was meteoric, and in terms of influence, he can be compared to Albrecht of Valdštejn.
A turning point occurred in 1621 after the Battle of White Mountain during the time of Zdeněk IV of Brtnice of Valdštejn. Cardinal Dietrichstein had Zdeněk arrested in 1621, informing the Emperor that “…he possesses great wealth and the splendid estate of Brtnice.” The estate was confiscated from Zdeněk for his participation in the uprising, with a high valuation. Zdeněk died in 1623 in prison at Špilberk.
Rambaldo XIII of Collalto
At the beginning of 1623, Emperor Ferdinand II sold the Brtnice estate to his court military advisor, chamberlain, and oberst, Count Rambaldo XIII of Collalto. The transformation of the chateau during the Collalto period was largely connected to the Thirty Years’ War and numerous fires. A fire in 1760 affected both the third courtyard, when the western wing burned down, and the second courtyard, where around 1842 a second floor was added in the Neo-Gothic style and the Gothic tower disappeared. Changes also affected the first courtyard. The Brtnice estate was impacted by land reforms after World War I and the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, which also brought an end to further construction activities.
After the defeat of Fascist Germany in May 1945, a large-scale action took place in the Czechoslovak state to punish traitors and enemies of the republic, to confiscate agricultural land owned by persons of German and Hungarian nationality, and to expel them from the country. The legislative measures of the postwar revolution, the so-called Beneš Decrees, also applied in the resulting proceedings to Octavian, Prince of Collalto, whose entire property was confiscated under Presidential Decree No. 12/1945 Coll. dated 21 June 1945. These postwar confiscations thus brought to an end more than three hundred and twenty years (1623–1947) of the presence of the Italian noble family Collalto et San Salvatore in the Moravian provincial environment, a presence that had contributed in all areas of cultural, artistic, social, and economic life.
The castle grounds represent a developmentally complex and gradually expanding ensemble of buildings, with a medieval core and an originally English-style park founded in 1817. Within the grounds, one can find remnants of the 13th-century donjon and Gothic castle, as well as evidence of High Renaissance architecture with numerous Baroque and Neo-Gothic modifications. Although the current condition reflects 100 years of neglect, it is still worth visiting.
