The ongoing renovation of the chateau area in Jimlín has been in progress for almost 20 years. Due to the activity of the owner, it was possible to protect the important heritage site from deteriorating, and also restore all worthy artworks. The chateau is accessible for public, and became one of the most visited heritage sites in the region. This is partially due to many cultural and social events organized in the area.
Strop zámku Nový Hrad, foto: Thermo Sanace s.r.o., nepodléhá CC
Chateau Nový Hrad in Jimlín is one of the most important major manors in the Ústecký Region. The building started in the era of the House of Kolowrat, in 1465–74. The medieval castle was later rebuilt to the renaissance chateau, and then Baroque reconstruction took place. From 1767 till the mid-20th century, the chateau was owned by the House of Schwarzenberg. After the nationalization in 1947, the chateau was used as the seat for the local agricultural collective (JZD) until the late 1980s. No more than basic maintenance was done at that time, the building adjustments were just utilitarian, paying no respect to heritage values. Yet the site maintained many worthy elements and structures from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque era – mural paintings, frescos, stuccos, painted ceiling beams, or stone portals.
The rescue of the heritage site began in 1994, when the District Authority in Louny took over the management of the chateau (since 2012, the chateau is the funded organization of the Ústecký Region). Since 2000, an ongoing renovation has been conducted here, during which the buildings were statistically secured and drained, trusses were repaired, roofing replaced, and facades renovated. The restoration of public areas followed.
The interiors were stripped from the features installed in the second half of the 20th century. Once the modern cement plasters were removed, thorough restoration started, starting with stuccos and paintings in the chateau chapel. An essential discovery was made in the ground floor room in the center of the eastern wing, with Baroque vault. Under the younger layers of plaster, large areas of top-quality fresco paintings were discovered on the walls, made in the late 15th century, depicting wrestling couples and duels of knights on horsebacks, complemented with the decorations primarily in green tones; this corresponds to “green rooms” in the late 15th century. Another room in the eastern wing also revealed fragments of fresco paintings from the early 16th century; the contents are yet to be examined.
The aforementioned findings were sensitively restored and are important testimony on the quality of art decorations of the original building, built since 1465 by Albrecht of Kolowrat. The original Baroque, classicist or Belle Epoque painting decorations were identified and restored in almost all premises within the chateau. The restoration of eleven Baroque painted ceilings, realized between 2007 and 2013, was especially unique.
Nominated for the Ústecký Region by the regional center of the National Heritage Institute in Ústí nad Labem.
Ústecký Region, represented by Oldřich Bubeníček (Head of Regional Authority), was nominated for the National Heritage Institute Prize, category: Rescue of the heritage site.
