The Opočno Castle will open the second floor, where the storerooms were located

Opočno – The state castle of Opočno in the Rychnov region will open its second floor to visitors in April 2022 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the castle's accessibility, a part that had previously been closed to the public. The castle will also offer restructured tour routes and thousands of previously inaccessible exhibits. Tomáš Kořínek, the castle's caretaker, told ČTK this. The castle currently offers three tour routes, but after the renovations, there will be two: one on the first floor and another on the second floor.

"Currently, we basically have one main tour route along with two shorter, supplementary ones. In the end, we will have one route less, but visitors will see more rooms and exhibits as a result. We aim to make both new circuits accessible for the next season on April 2, 2022," Kořínek said.

The Opočno castle has around 16,500 pieces of furniture, of which about half has been on display so far. According to him, from spring, the number of exhibited items should increase by approximately 5,000 pieces. The new tour route on the second floor of the castle has been in development for three years.

"The preparation of the new tour route involved, for example, the restoration of ceilings, paintings, and floors. During this time, we have managed to put together seven rooms that will be accessible as part of the new tour route," Kořínek said.

Restoration work on the second floor is coming to an end, and the process of furnishing the rooms with period inventory and exhibits is beginning.

"From the beginning of November to the end of March, we will also change the installations on the first floor. Many different items were hidden in the second-floor depositories, which were also placed on the first floor during the Colloredo-Mansfeld family time. We have photo documentation of the first floor, so we know exactly how the furniture, paintings, and weapons were arranged, and we will return them to their original places as they were at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries," Kořínek told ČTK.

The exhibited items will be located in 42 rooms on the first and second floors, of which visitors will see 19 for the first time, while 23 were already accessible but will be supplemented with new exhibits. "Of the newly accessible rooms, nine will be renovated, and ten newly opened in what is referred to as the found state," Kořínek informed ČTK.

Among the newly exhibited items will be, for example, specimens of mummified Egyptian pigeons, a numismatic collection, and a collection of 19th-century theatrical costumes.

The castle belonged to the Colloredo-Mansfeld family, which opened the castle to the public in 1922. This year, a thirty-year dispute over the ownership of the castle, conducted by the daughter of the last noble owner of the castle, Kristina Colloredo-Mansfeldová, with the Czech Republic, has come to an end. The Opočno castle thus remains state property.

Opočno was confiscated by the Nazis, and after the war, the state took over the castle. After the fall of communism, the courts dealt with the case repeatedly, with several twists. Colloredo-Mansfeldová even managed the castle for some time. However, following a ruling from the Constitutional Court, the state took over the property again in April 2007. The Opočno castle is managed by the National Heritage Institute.