Otínk - Chateau

The small village of Otín in the Klatovy region has been the seat of a small farm since the High Middle Ages. First, the lords Jeniš and Oldřich owned the estate. Of the subsequent owners the most important was the family of Kaničtí z Čachrova, who sometime after the middle of the 16th century transferred their residence from an older Gothic house to a newly built Renaissance fortified manor house.

In 1675 Otín was adjoined to the neighbouring farm Předslav. The Příchovští of Příchovice family was followed by the family Janovští of Janovice, one of whom, František Adam, had the Renaissance fortified manor house enlarged by the Baroque south wing. In 1809 the Otín-Předslav estate was taken over by the Prague lawyer Dr. Jan Měchura, who made other significant alterations to the chateau - the most striking of which was the construction of the gloriette.

Otín rose to national importance as the place where, on September 16th 1827, Měchura‘s daughter Terezie married František Palacký, who later became the leading national historiographer and the “father of the nation”. Palacký often stayed in Otín (he allegedly wrote parts of his History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia in the gloriette). After the death of Jan Měchura his son, the composer Leopold Eugen Měchura, continued to own the estate.

Private owners changed until 1950, when the castle was taken over by the state. In 2018 the neglected complex was purchased by the Czech company Simargard, s.r.o. (owner Daria Krstev) and its reconstruction was commenced.