Lany Castle

Lany Castle - Zámek Lány, Lany, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic.

The original Renaissance fortress built by the Zejdlic family shortly before 1581 was converted between 1592 and 1593 by Emperor Rudolf II into a Renaissance hunting lodge, surrounded by ramparts and a water-filled moat. Until 1658, Lány—as part of the Křivoklát estate—belonged to the Bohemian Crown. It was not until the reign of Emperor Leopold I that the Křivoklát estate was pledged to the Schwarzenberg family and subsequently sold, on June 6, 1685, to Arnošt Josef of Wallenstein. In 1731, Marie Anna of Wallenstein—who had been married to Prince Vilém Arnošt of Fürstenberg since 1723—inherited the Wallenstein holdings, thereby bringing the Křivoklát estate into the Fürstenberg family. In 1734, Emperor Charles VI waived the Bohemian Crown's right to repurchase the Křivoklát estate, making it the unrestricted property of the Fürstenbergs. In 1824, the family added a second story to the Lány chateau, a modification that significantly altered the building's original late-Renaissance character. The château's current exterior—featuring a five-sided avant-corps, a third story set within the mansard roof, and distinctive domes—is the result of an eclectic renovation carried out between 1902 and 1903. On July 21, 1921, the Czechoslovak Republic purchased the Lány Château from the Fürstenberg family, and a decision by the National Assembly designated the property as a temporary and summer residence for the country's presidents. T. G. Masaryk resided there from August 11, 1921, until his death on September 14, 1937, followed by subsequent heads of state.