Part of the castle in Choltice will open to the public after 16 years

Choltice (Pardubice) - After approximately 16 years, a part of the Baroque castle in Choltice in Pardubice will open to the public in May. Until now, only about one-eighth of the castle, which housed a regional museum, was accessible. People could not see the other interiors due to a long-standing restitution dispute with Berthold Thun-Hohenstein. Last year, the Constitutional Court in Brno ruled in favor of the town. Jan Málek, the mayor, said this to ČTK today.
    "For now, we would show people the most valuable part, the interior of the castle chapel, and probably another five Baroque-furnished rooms in the castle. It will be open every weekend, and during the week by appointment," said Málek.
    The dilapidated castle could not be radically repaired by the town in recent years. They only paid the bare minimum necessary to prevent its further deterioration. All the castle spaces could serve the public in the future. However, it depends on how successful the town hall is with its application for European funding.
    "Repairs and especially restoration works would cost about 100 million crowns. Just the castle chapel would cost 15 to 20 million," Málek said.
    The castle also needs to be furnished with furniture and art objects. According to Málek, most of the castle’s furnishings were taken by the descendants of former owners from the Ministry of Culture's storage. Now, the town is negotiating with the ministry to return the rest of the inventory to Choltice.
    "We would like the interiors to be as authentic as possible and reflect the end of the 17th century. From the preserved documents, we want to reconstruct what individual rooms were used for," said the mayor.
    The son of the last owner, Berthold Thun-Hohenstein, has been seeking the Baroque castle since 1992. The noble and later princely Thun-Hohenstein family acquired the Choltice estate in 1945. Because their descendants identified as German, their property was confiscated in 1945 based on the Beneš decrees. Thun-Hohenstein communicated through his lawyer last year to the Brno court that he intends to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. However, the mayor of Choltice does not expect the dispute to reopen.