The reconstruction of Humprecht Castle is halfway complete, and so far it has cost 20 million CZK.

Sobotka - The reconstruction of the Humprecht Castle near Sobotka in the Jičín region is halfway complete, having so far cost around 20 million crowns. The total costs, including furnishings, are 47 million crowns. This was stated today by Sobotka's mayor Lubor Jenček (for TOP 09) to ČTK. The castle is a national cultural monument and has been owned by the city since the 1930s. Approximately 90 percent of the costs will be covered by a European grant from IROP.

"After the reconstruction, the castle will resemble its appearance from the 1920s," Jenček said. Before the pandemic, the castle was visited by around 30,000 people each year. The city hopes that attendance will increase further due to the reconstruction.

The reconstruction began last April. The construction part, which will cost about 40 million crowns, is expected to be completed by June 2023, and the entire project is planned to be finished by December 2023. Part of the castle will open for this year's summer holidays. The castle as a whole is expected to welcome its first visitors in January 2024. "For this July and August, we plan to open the ground floor. Mainly restoration work has been happening there. By the end of June, we should have the exhibition on the ground floor prepared," Jenček told ČTK.

The exhibition on the ground floor will relate to the original purpose of Humprecht, which was a hunting castle. "Visitors will see the newly reconstructed rooms on the ground floor of the castle; the exhibition will be modified. The installation will be enriched with additional items, mostly paintings," said the castle curator Dagmar Faměrová to ČTK.

The reconstruction of the castle started from the top, and the tower has been largely repaired. The floor in the tower underwent a demanding process to ensure the required static load-bearing capacity and safety. A helicopter assisted in the replacement of the beams. "After the scaffolding was removed from the external part of the tower, the repaired facade is already visible. I would describe the tower as nearly finished. Inside, carpentry adjustments are still ongoing on the roof structure. After reconstruction, the truss of the tower will be newly accessible and thus become an interesting part of the exhibition," Jenček said.

The lower part of the castle is still under scaffolding. The builders plan to repair the external plaster, perform a review of the walkway, and install wiring for outdoor lighting. The spiral staircase will also undergo complete reconstruction. According to representatives of the city hall, serious complications have arisen concerning the castle's most important room, the Acoustic Hall on the first floor of the building. During a planned inspection of the condition of the painting on the ceiling, it was discovered that the coating with the painting had sagged.

"This will be addressed by a restorer in the coming weeks. The second major complication is the actual condition of the first stage of the copper standing seam roofing, which will ultimately need to be completely replaced, and this will also need to be dealt with financially," Jenček told ČTK.

The castle was built in the early Baroque style with elements of late Renaissance and Mannerism by the Italian architect Carlo Lurago between 1666 and 1668 as a summer and hunting residence for Count Humprecht Jan Czernin of Chudenice. In 1678, the castle burned down. It was repaired within two years, raised by one floor, and has had almost the same appearance since 1680. On the first floor, there is a 16-meter-high dining hall with distinctive acoustics, and on the second floor, an observation gallery.