Page 61 - bne_Magazine_July_2017

bne July 2017 CULTURE I 61 & PEOPLE
ARTS
In Eastern Bohemia, Frantisek Kinsky has just completed work on the family chateau of Kostelec nad Orlici, where, helped by an EU grant, a totally derelict baroque palace has risen again to glory. I saw it at its worst, and although I am an optimist
I had thought it was probably a hopeless case.
Frantisek’s father had stuck it out through communism, barred from living in his house and forced to watch its gradual decay from the adjacent stables – a not uncommon form of torture that was doled out to owners of fine buildings. Luckily, old Count Kinsky lived just long enough to see his son revive the house in which the old man had been born.
Melnik and Castolovice had – like many other grand State Castles – been used as museums, and so they are again. Melnik, which has a noted vineyard, or Nelahozoves, which has a famous painting collection, are big draws today. But even less well known and heavily reconstructed chateaus such as Kostelec nad Orlici are run as successful businesses catering to tourists, weddings and conferences.
However, many returning owners in the 1990s who were faced with opening their castles for the first time or, in some cases, taking over badly run State Castles, found themselves poorly equipped for the task, with virtually no help available from the state. The returning owners had mostly not lived in historic
houses in their two generations of exile, let alone castles with estates. The entire craft of owning, living in and also sharing an historic house with the public – and getting it to support itself financially – was alien to them.
After European Union accession in 2004, EU grants, under the Regional Operation Programme, have certainly helped revive several castles – and a revived castle, open for business as a heritage and cultural attraction, helps enormously to
“Restituants had to guess where the contents of their properties might be stored”
regenerate the communities in which they stand. The UK’s National Trust has estimated that of the total money expended on a visit to see an historic house, 95% of it was not spent in the house and grounds but in the area – in lodging, in other activities, in restaurants and so on.
Stephen Weeks is a castle conservationist and author.
Melnik Castle.
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