Němčice - Chateau

Chateau Němčice can be found in the village of the same name, about 7 km west of Volyně. The chateau complex with farm buildings and a park has been listed as a cultural monument since 1958. The first written mention of the Němčice manor house dates from 1629, although a Renaissance fortified manor was built here earlier by Adam Chřepický of Modliškovice, who acquired the village in the year 1582. Němčice remained in the possession of the Chřepický family until 1667, when Anna Chřepická, née Kocová of Dobrš, sold the estate to Ctibor Václav Chřepický of Modliškovice.

In 1674 Němčice was bought by Jiří František Věžník of Věžníky, considered to be the initiator of the reconstruction of the Renaissance fortified manor into a Baroque chateau. In 1696 Jan Ignác Dlouhoveský from Dlouhá Ves bought Němčice and connected its farm to Kraselov. Sometime around that time the chateau was raised by one floor. In his last Will from 1701 Jan Ignác Dlouhoveský established a family trust from his property, the so-called fideikomis for all branches of the Dlouhoveský family (Dlouhoveský, Chanovský and Častoláry). The chateau chapel of St. John of Nepomuk, supposedly designed by the important architect Pavel Ignác Bayer, was added to the south-eastern facade in the years 1727–1729. In 1877 the last family member of the Chanovský branch died and the fideikomis passed to the last living branch of the family, the Dlouhoveský ofDlouhá Ves. Baron Karel Ludvík Dlouhoveský of Dlouhá Ves (1876–1956) owned Němčice from 1907 until 1945, when a national administration was established, the farm was later confiscated and transferred to the state.

In the 1980s the chateau complex served as apartments and later as accommodation for school camps. However, no investment was made into its maintenance, which is why this imposing seat together with the adjacent park fell quickly into disrepair. By 1990 the devastation went so far that there was a risk of practically all the ceilings of the first floor collapsing, while the ground floor was also severely damaged.

In 1994 after protracted restitution disputes the chateau was returned to the rightful successor of the original owner, the son of Baron Karel Ludvík Dlouhoveský, Jan Ignác Dlauhoweský. After his death the chateau was taken over by his older son Václav Dlauhoweský (born 1946). The family tried to repair the chateau several times and in 1996-1997 necessary rescue work took place. In the year 2000 the interior of the chateau chapel was saved and paintings, statues and the Baroque organ were restored. Currently, a gradual reconstruction of the chateau complex is underway. Project documentation has already been prepared for all the chateau buildings, including the park. The entire property in now owned by Lukáš Dlauhoweský (born 1979).