<Město Liberec> will be the owner of the <zámku> for the first time in more than 400 years

Liberec - Liberec will become the owner of a late 16th-century castle in the city center for the first time in more than 400 years. It will acquire it for 81 million crowns, today the mayor Jaroslav Zámečník (Stars for the Liberec Region - SLK) confirmed this by signing the purchase agreement on behalf of the city, alongside Peter Winkelman, the chairman of the board of MEI (Middle Europe Investments), the current private owner. The castle will be transferred to the city's ownership within a month, after the payment of the first installment of 40 million crowns, Zámečník told reporters today.

"For us, for the city, I think this is a unique moment because this castle has never belonged to the city, even though it has stood here for 400 years. And now we are changing history," said the mayor. In the future, Liberec intends to have officials, a basic art school, a tourist tour route, and support for the Anifilm festival in the castle.

Winkelman stated today that negotiations with the city lasted about two to three years and that there were more interested parties. "I can already see that the city has a lot of interesting ideas for the castle and how much effort it is putting into it," he said. He added that the money obtained from the sale of the castle will be used for another project in Liberec, which is the construction of a new district in the area of the former Textilana factory. In the first phase, he would like to build over 200 apartments.

For the monumentally protected structure with land and a park, MEI will receive 80 million from the city hall in three installments, and an additional million for its furnishings, which includes around 8000 items. "Of those, there are about 400 chandeliers. You can see that some were advertising samples from Skloexport, and they are still labeled," said the city councilor Adam Lenert (ANO) to ČTK today. Liberec will pay the purchase price for the castle in three annual installments: this year 40 million, next year 30 million, and the remaining 11 million will be paid in 2026. According to an appraisal from last year, the area valued at 1.2 hectares is worth 97 million crowns.

The castle is located in the city center just a few hundred meters from the town hall. Between 1583 and 1587, it was built by brothers Kryštof and Melichar of Redern as one of the first stone houses in Liberec. The castle has undergone many renovations over the years, and much of its original structure has been lost. The most valuable part is the chapel, which was added to the castle by Kateřina of Redern between 1604 and 1606. The castle served as a noble residence until the first half of the 19th century, after which it housed a court, a hostel, the headquarters of the State Forestry and Estates, a university, and at the height of its glory, Skloexport had one of the largest glass exhibits in the world there. Now the castle is empty for most of the year, with the only public event in recent years being the week-long international festival of animated films, Anifilm.

According to deputy mayor Jiří Janďourek (SLK), the condition of the spacious building with two wings is relatively good. "It seems to me that this house is ready for moving in," he said. The mayor reminded that the last major renovation took place about 30 years ago, costing around 300 million crowns.

This summer, the city hall has already opened part of the castle to the public. Every Tuesday and Saturday, there are guided tours, the tower is accessible, and local artists perform on the stairs in front of the castle. Additionally, there is usually a concert in the chapel on Saturdays, and on the last two Thursdays of August, films will be screened in the garden.

According to Janďourek, the city wants to establish a permanent tour route in the castle in the first phase and also move the city architecture office into it in the fall, which will also start preparing projects for its use and restoration. He anticipates that they will need a year for this, after which restoration will begin. "What is crucial for the castle is the basic social infrastructure and accessibility. That is the first thing we need to do in the projects," he added. It is estimated that this will require tens of millions of crowns.