Žehušice, Château in Žehušice, Czech Republic

Žehušice is a château in the Czech Republic featuring traditional Bohemian architectural elements from its period of construction. The building displays multiple wings and interior spaces designed in the style characteristic of the 1800s.

Michael Osvald Thun-Hohenstein bought the Žehušice estate in 1661 and had a new château built on the village's eastern edge, probably designed by Francesco Caratti and finished in 1679. The Thun-Hohensteins kept it until 1913. In 1810 Josef Matyáš Thun-Hohenstein had the complex remodelled in Neoclassical style, completed in 1826. Around 1830 he received white deer from Josef Leopold Kinský for the adjoining deer park.

The château's name comes from the market town of Žehušice, and the estate is tied to the Thun-Hohenstein family, who held it until 1913. The white deer herd nearby began when Josef Matyáš Thun received animals from Josef Leopold Kinský around 1830; white deer had been brought to Bohemia around 1780 and rarely survived local conditions, but they thrived at Žehušice.

The château is undergoing reconstruction, so interior access is limited. The grounds include a gate with pavilions, a riding hall, stables, a mill, a brewery with malt house, and a granary. The 25-hectare English park adjoins the much larger white deer enclosure. Check locally which parts are open before setting out.

The white deer at Žehušice descend from animals that Josef Matyáš Thun received around 1830 from Josef Leopold Kinský. White deer had been brought to Bohemia around 1780 but rarely survived local conditions; at Žehušice they thrived, and the roughly ten-times-larger deer park adjoins the 25-hectare English park.