Featured location: Brtnice Chateau – A crumbling Renaissance treasure in the middle of the Czech Highlands

8. April 2018

Filmmakers love ruins. Halfway between Jihlava and Trebic, on the foundations of a Gothic castle built at the end of the Hussite Wars in the 15^th century, you’ll find one such ruin – Brtnice Chateau. The remnants of the Gothic structure can still be seen today in the chateau’s third courtyard.

Image /media/cutcmiy3/rimg0040_2_-_kopie.jpg

Brtnice Castle | © Vysočina Film Office

“Brtnice Chateau has not yet been discovered by filmmakers, which is a shame, as it has so much to offer,” says current chateau caretaker Oleg Rybníkář. “Only a small part of it is open to the public during the summer, so there’s no problem to close it and rent it out for film shoots.” The chateau has more than twenty rooms with high, five-meter ceilings, most in neglected condition, and some even have broken windows. The largest hall measures 200 sqm (10 x 20 m). “Only one of the halls is in presentable state, with preserved oil paintings on the walls. Otherwise the chateau is in poor condition. After it was nationalized in 1945, it served as a warehouse, and later as housing, and was finally abandoned to fall into disrepair. Due to ongoing ownership disputes, repairs are being carried out only sporadically,” says Klára Čechová of the Vysočina Film Office.

Brtnice Castle | © Vysočina Film Office

There are cellars under part of the property, including over half the buildings in the third courtyard. There are also extensive attic spaces throughout the entire structure. The Renaissance chateau has an elongated floor plan, and the complex comprises three courtyards. The total floor space is 3,700 sqm.

Brtnice Castle | © Vysočina Film Office

The property also includes a 4.5-hectare park, with primarily deciduous trees, and there is a small lake in the lower part of the park. One of the interesting landscape architecture elements is the four-rowed tree-lined avenue. The park surrounds the chateau on three sides – a steep cliff falls from the fourth, southeastern, side. “The driveway running through the park can provide parking for dozens of vehicles, and the chateau’s courtyard can hold up to five cars,” concludes Klára Čechová.

For more information contact the Vysočina Film Office, Klára Čechová, info@filmvysocina.cz, +420 731 597 613.