A short visit to the historic north Bohemian town of Zákupy: 2 km
- Zákupy is a small town in the Česká Lípa region which has an interesting history, mostly connected to its ownership over the centuries by a roll call of some of the most prominent Bohemian and Austrian aristocratic families. These include the Vartenbergs in the Middle Ages and the Habsburgs from the beginning of the 19th century. The guided tours of the chateau, currently in State ownership and undergoing gradual renovation, are highly recommended and illuminate this rich history.
- There is an attractive English park area also worth exploring, together with some historical buildings in main town. The centerpiece on the main square is a Plague tower constructed in 1706 by the then owner of the chateau Anna Maria Frances of Tuscany who is a fascinating character, one of the most important noblewomen in Baroque Bohemia. She spent much of her life and fortune renovating her portfolio of properties in Bohemia, but Zákupy was her principal residence, where she enjoyed the attentions of 120 courtiers, craftsmen and servants. She even built a stable for her caravan of camels.
- Whether it was the prestigious list of owners or its strategic position in a lowland area close to the border regions, Zákupy seems to have attracted the attentions of numerous foreign armies from the 17th century onwards, including the Swedish and Prussian forces that rampaged through this area of Bohemia during the 30 Years Wars and the Austrian Wars of Succession.
- In the 1813, both the Habsburg armies and their Napoleonic enemies also marched past Zákupy, but this was close to the end of the French Emperor’s reign. He would soon be heading off to his island exile. His young son, Napoleon II (who was also grandson of the Habsburg Emperor, Francis I) was transferred to an exile in Vienna immediately after the fall of his father. Despite his father’s transgressions against the Habsburg Empire, Napoleon’s son was still bequeathed properties, including the Zákupy Estate. He never had the chance to wander through the park area or visit the camel stables. Napoleon II died in Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace from tuberculosis, at the age of 21.
- In the second half of the 19th century the property was used by the Habsburg dynasty for important events and stays, which the Empire wanted to keep out of public sight. It was, for example, the favoured Bohemian country residence for the deposed former Emperor Ferdinand V (the last crowned king of Bohemia). Then, in 1876 a diplomatic meeting took place at the chateau between Emperor Franz Joseph and Tsar Alexander II, leading to the Treaty of Zákupy. This little known agreement between Austro-Hungary and Russia was the beginning of the chain which enabled Austria to annex Bosnia in 1908. This in turn was the political background to the start of World War I.
- The final trigger which led to that terrible war was pulled by a Bosnian Serb in the capital of Bosnia on 28 June 1914. The victims were of course Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his morganatic wife, Sophie who was from the Bohemian noble house of Chotek. In a remarkable piece of historical symmetry, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie (who was not on the approved list of eligible marriage partners) had been married in 1900 in the chateau of Zákupy, in a discrete ceremony not attended by any of the senior Habsburgs. The chateau has therefore been the stage for some of Europe’s most significant events. It deserves to be better known.
- A new nature trail of some 15 km heads from the chateau into the forests to the east of Zákupy, but this has yet to be walked by the author. For now, the short 2.5 km walk around town, outlined in the map below, is definitely worthwhile. It can be done with a stroller. There are a surprising number of places for refreshments in the town (map points 2, 6, 8 and 11), including a seasonal café in the chateau. Apart from the café, which is fine, none of the other restaurants highlighted have been tested at the time of writing.
Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’ to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.
Directions
- Starting at the town center the suggested route makes a loop firstly on the east side of the river Svitavka (crossing one of the town’s attractive stone bridges) before returning back to the chateau and park area and along the main street to the main square
- The simple route is best followed on the mapy.com application, or a good paper map.
