The castle Brodek u Prostějova is located on the western extension of the Upper Haná valley with Olomouc as its regional capital. The Haná valley is the most fertile agricultural area in the Czech Republic and was already in the Middle Neolithic times a vibrant cultural and economic centre.
It is assumed that where the castle is today there had previously already been a fortress. Latest analysis of the castle show that the remains of a fortress which was mostly destroyed during the Hussite wars (1419-1436) were used as its basis. The owners at that time rebuilt it again and connected it to the fortress in Otaslavice – a town 3km west from Brodek. It became the administrative centre for the region.
In the wars thereafter, the fortress was again heavily damaged. In 1583 Jan Hrubčický restored the castle and brought the area back to its former economical height. The property was passed through various families until Karel von Kleinburg (Imperial Court Council) bought the estate in 1707. He commissioned the famous architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach [1] to build a baroque castle. His plans were executed between 1707 and 1710.
The next owner Count von Ulfeld adapted the facade in the classicistic style.
In 1766 the estate was bought by Count Franz Anton von Schrattenbach. In 1827 Countess Elisabeth von Schrattenbach married Gustav Josef Count Kálnoky. The family Kálnoky owned the estate till its expropriation in 1945/48.
In his last will Gustav Count Kálnoky (1892-1979) passed on the estate to his nephew Count Richard Belcredi. Count Richard Belcredi immigrated in 1949 from the Czech Republic and worked as political editor for Radio Free Europe in Munich Germany. He returned to the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution and started the restitution process. From 1994 to 1998 he served as the Czech Republic’s Ambassador to Switzerland. Until his passing in 2015 he dedicated all his efforts towards restoring the castle. He passed the estate to his two sons Richard Alain Count Belcredi and Alain Alexander Count Belcredi who continue his work today.
[1] Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656 – 1723) was an Austrian architect, sculptor, and architectural historian whose Baroque architecture profoundly influenced the time. His major works include the Karlskirche in Vienna, Schloss Schönbrunn and the Austrian National Library in Vienna and castle Klessheim in Salzburg.