History

Legend has it that Dětenice was founded by Duke Oldřich in the mid-11th century. When crossing the country he came across two abandoned boys and took pity on them. He took them in and left some of his people with them to protect them and bring them up. The settlement was called after the children, Dětenice.

Beneš of Wallenstein and Dětenice (1269-1318) converted the original wooden fort into a Gothic stone fortress. The château still features remains of a castle tower and Early-Gothic cellars. According to the legend, Beneš Bílý used to sit Na Viničkách below a small rock and read Hussite books as his wife was a Catholic. Stones from this rock were quarried in the 19th century and transported to the château park.

In 1503, the estate was bought by the House of Křinečtí. The last of the House of "Ronov", i.e. Křinečtí, was Jiří Křinecký, who commissioned the construction of a tower with a clock and converted the Gothic fortress into a Renaissance château. Jiří Křinecký took part in the insurgence against Ferdinand II. For this treason, his estate was confiscated after the Battle of the White Hill and sold in auction to Albrecht von Wallenstein. Jiří Křinecký was sentenced to death and was to be executed in the Old Town Square with other 27 Czech noble leaders. However, he manager to flee for Saxony and had all his wealth buried in the secret corridors of the château and hoped to come back one day to pick it up. None has discovered the treasury so far.

After the death of Albrecht von Wallenstein (1634), the estate passed on to his nephew, Adam von Wallenstein. Adam‘s grandson, Oktavián (1670-1717), commissioned the construction of the morgue statue of St. Salvator (1713), statue of the Virgin Mary Suchánků and statue of St. Barbora in the château park. He is credited with the statue of John of Nepomuk on the village green in Dětenice and the château chapel. Oktavián von Wallenstein had the Dětenice school constructed in 1673.

Other owners of the estate worth mentioning include Count Jan Clamm-Gallas (1760), who had a vast stretch of forest cut down, built the Nový dvůr and converted the château in Late Baroque style to the present appearance. He planted a vineyard on a hill at Osenice (the present Na Viničkách). His son Karel commissioned the construction of a spa for his ill wife at Na Viničkách. Unfortunately, she died despite being accompanied by him every morning to take a bath there, and left behind a three-year-old daughter. The Count took his life and the guardian of little Aloisie sold the estate.

The new owner, Baron Wimmer (1790-1808), established a saw mill near the Hasinský lake (the present Pilský rybník). The next owner, Filip Wessenberk (1808-1866), abandoned most of the local lakes and thus eradicated yellow fever from the country. In 1820, he renovated the château to the present style, renewed the château chapel and established the Filipen court. Young Filip was an ardent traveller. He brought a monkey and a small black boy Táhu from his journeys, who was baptised in the Osenice church to Jindřich and after coming back to his homeland he became the principal of a girls’ school in Cairo. After the death of Filip Wessenberk, the estate passed on to the Order of the Knights of Malta (1867) he was a member of.

During the times of the Order of the Knights of Malta (1866-1903), a brickworks was established in Osenice (1900), a railway from Bakov to Kopidlno was constructed (1882), the brewery was renovated a chapel was built in the village green (1876) and a new school was established in Dětenice on the site of a burnt out wine distillery (1876). The château park was extended new rococo statues were added to the existing ones and a château fountain was installed (work by Fr. Rous). Terraces were annexed to the château.

In 1903, Dětenice was bought by Bloch brothers who renovated the courts, established a field track and electrified the village. The last owner of the estate between 1926 – 1945 was Emanuel Řehák, who invited the inhabitants of Dětenice to the château for the harvest-home and other feasts. In 1948, Řehák’s estate was nationalised. The château first became a gardening vocational school and in 1959 it was converted into a special boarding school. In 1991, the special school was closed down and relocated, the château was empty and gradually started to decay being owned by the district office of Jičín.

In 1998, Pavel Ondráček bought the château from the state and started carrying out extensive and sensitive reconstruction that took two years. In 2000, the château was reopened to the public.