disputes over the castle in Opočno have been going on for almost three decades

Prague – A profile of the castle in Opočno in the Rychnov region and a selection of information about the restitution disputes related to it (the Opočno Castle will remain with the state, as the European Court of Human Rights rejected the complaint of the Colloredo-Mansfeld family, confirming the verdict of the Constitutional Court):

- The Renaissance arcade castle, located approximately 30 kilometers east of Hradec Králové, is one of the most sought-after monuments in the Hradec Králové Region. The castle, which has been recognized as a national cultural monument since 1995, is adjacent to a diverse natural landscape park. Among the interiors of the castle, the knight's hall, equipped with valuable armor, stands out, as does the chapel and the representative salon. Opočno also has a unique gallery with works from the Venetian and Neapolitan schools.

- On the site of a medieval castle, it was built by the Trčka family from Lípa. The last family owner was Adam Erdman Trčka, who was murdered in 1634 along with Albrecht von Wallenstein. Afterwards, the Trčka properties were confiscated, and Opočno was acquired by the imperial army officer Rudolf Colloredo. The Colloredo family reconstructed the castle in the Baroque style at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries according to the design of the Italian builder Giovanni Battista Alliprandi.

- In 1942, the Nazis confiscated the castle from the Colloredo-Mansfeld family, and after 1945, it was assigned to the state based on a decree from President Beneš. The Mansfeld family began to litigate for the property after the war, but after February 1948, they emigrated to Austria, and the disputes subsided. Only after the fall of the communist regime did Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeldová, the daughter of the last owner, claim the return of the castle in 1991.

- The Rychnov nad Kněžnou District Court was the first to decide on the complaint of Colloredo-Mansfeldová, which in September 1995 did not recognize her claims. Similarly, various courts made decisions in the following years. It wasn't until June 2002 that the Rychnov District Court ordered the return of the castle, land, and buildings to the heiress, arguing that Kristina's father, Josef, did not lose Czechoslovak citizenship during World War II, making the post-war confiscation of the castle illegal, according to the court.

- The return was later confirmed by the Regional Court in Hradec Králové, and the state heritage officials, managing the castle, were unsuccessful in appealing to the Supreme Court. In January 2005, the Constitutional Court annulled the verdicts of the district and regional courts and returned the whole matter to the district court in Rychnov. In doing so, the Constitutional Court affirmed the restitution deadline of February 25, 1948. Previously confiscated property can only be returned according to the Constitutional Court in cases of racial genocide or the Holocaust, which did not apply in the case of Opočno.

- In September 2005, the Rychnov District Court ruled that the castle in Opočno should belong to the National Heritage Institute. This verdict was confirmed by appellate courts. In April 2007, the state, represented by the National Heritage Institute, reclaimed the castle after about four years. However, Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeldová did not give up and continued to seek the return of the castle in the following years in courts of all levels, including the Constitutional Court.

- In April 2012, the Constitutional judges confirmed that the castle and other property would remain with the state, but two years later, they granted a request to reopen the process, which had previously been rejected by lower courts. Colloredo-Mansfeldová attempted to prove that her grandmother was of Jewish descent and that the confiscation of property by the Nazis in 1942 had both political and racial motives. The reopened proceedings left the castle with the state, a decision confirmed by the Supreme Court in February 2017. Last May, the Constitutional Court rejected a subsequent complaint from Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeldová, meaning the castle would remain with the state. Now the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has dismissed the Colloredo-Mansfeld family's complaint, thereby confirming last year's ruling of the Constitutional Court. This was reported by Czech Radio Radiožurnál (ČRo), citing the Ministry of Justice.

- In addition to the castle building, Colloredo-Mansfeldová and her cousin Jerome are seeking the return of the furniture, which includes several hundred items, such as weapons, paintings, chandeliers, and a rare carriage. Czech courts first granted them co-ownership of 68 paintings. However, they later rejected claims for the remaining furniture from Opočno Castle in two separate proceedings. The Constitutional Court also later denied the return.

- In the autumn of 2017, the Constitutional Court rejected Colloredo-Mansfeldová's proposal to reopen proceedings regarding the two complaints concerning the furniture. However, in January 2018, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg published a ruling supporting Colloredo-Mansfeldová's efforts to reopen the proceedings regarding the return of the furniture, as well as the similar decision made in the case of her cousin. Throughout 2018, the Constitutional Court reopened the proceedings, and last June it ruled that the judiciary must reopen the dispute over the castle's furniture.