The new owner of the Brandýs Castle will gradually renovate it

Brandýs nad Orlicí - The new owner of the dilapidated castle in Brandýs nad Orlicí wants to gradually renovate it. It could house a café, an information center, and accommodation. Pavel Skalický, the managing director of the company Orlice, told ČTK this. He purchased the monument with his family at an auction for 3.99 million crowns.

"I am from Ústí nad Orlicí. There are few buildings as beautiful as the castle in Brandýs. We will start with a historical and architectural survey. Even then, we would like to open it to the public, and we want to cooperate with the city," said Skalický, who is a doctor by profession.

The castle was owned by the state and was repeatedly offered for auction along with 7,000 square meters of parkland. On the fourth attempt, a buyer was found. The castle is a baroque monument from 1781 to 1783. It stands on the site of a monastery of the Unity of Brethren. The Trauttmannsdorff family commissioned its construction. In 1914, it was remodeled in the neoclassical style by the banking family Fisher.

The state took over the castle in 1945 based on a presidential decree. The building gradually housed a dormitory for the Secondary School of Textile Engineering, the Secondary School of Railway Engineering, and the headquarters of a correctional facility for children and youth. In 1997, it was damaged by floods, and it has been empty since 2014. "The castle is in a state of emergency; in one room, the ceiling has collapsed. The beams are secured. It will probably be possible to get a grant for emergency situations, and we will look for other possibilities in the next EU funding period," said Skalický.