Hořovice Castle
The so called New Castle in Hořovice was built probably at the very end of the 17th century. The estate was owned by the Silesian family of Vrbno. They lived here to the middle of the 19th century. The last owner of them, Dominik, sold the whole domain in 1852 to the Hessian Elector Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hanau. He was the sovereign of in those days independent principality of Hesse. He bought Hořovice as a gift for his wife Gertrude, who was not of noble lineage. This property should guaranteed her the new title of Princess of Hanau and Hořovice. The descendants of Friedrich Wilhelm and Gertrude owned the chateau and the domain until 1945, when the whole property was confiscated by the state based on the order of president Beneš Immediately after World War II the castle was used as a hospital and two different troops or the russian Red army spent some time here. During this time great part of the castles inventory was damaged or taken as spoils of war. In the years 1956 - 1974 part of the castle was used as the Secondary Technical School of Mechanical Engineering. In 1974 the building was closed and completely renovated.
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