The town of Třeboň, situated next to a large pond called Svět (formerly Nevděk), was influenced by the prominent noble families who owned it, just like other South Bohemian towns. The name Třeboň most probably comes from the word "tříbit" or "třebit" (to clear land). People had to clear the land before they could settle there.
For centuries only a very few trade routes crossed the original marshy landscape of the Třeboň Basin with its vast forests. The first mention of a settlement dates back to the 12th century, when the small settlement of Wittingau (or Vítek’s meadow), according to the founder of the family Vítek of Prčice, was established on one of these routes. The town of Třeboň is situated on a unique technical work: the artificially constructed Golden Canal in a system of ponds built by Štěpánek Netolický, Jakub Krčín of Jelčany and Mikuláš Rutard of Malešov. Třeboň was granted the status of town in 1341. Třeboň was granted the so-called right of royal towns and the privilege to import salt in 1376 and 1378 respectively.
The square is surrounded by burgher houses with Renaissance and Baroque gables, which form a town heritage reservation. The most valuable buildings are the House at the White Horse and the Old Town Hall with its 31-meter-high tower, which affords a unique view of the historical town centre. Třeboň is also the home of the J. K. Tyl Theatre, which has one of the oldest curtains in the Czech Republic. The famous ANIFILM Animated Film Festival is held in the town every year.
Interesting information about the construction of the system of ponds and the fishpond builder himself can be found in the beautifully restored house of Štěpánek Netolický, which also provides a beautiful gallery space.
Třeboň Square rises slightly toward a large chateau complex that ranks fourth among castles and chateaux in Bohemia in terms of size. The Renaissance entrance gate from 1607 bears the Rožmberk family’s orsinian emblem with bears, a lion’s head and the titles of the estate owners.
Today, the chateau and its decorations remind us more of the prominent Renaissance period when Vilém and Petr Vok, two Rožmberk brothers, had the chateau adapted to their requirements. Elements that remind us of the original Gothic castle of the Lords of Landštejn and the Lords of Rožmberk, which burnt down in 1562, can only be discovered in small details and nooks.
When Petr Vok of Rožmberk, perhaps the most prominent and best-known member of the Rožmberk family, sold Český Krumlov to pay for his debts and moved to Třeboň, he brought with him all of his art collections, his valuable library and the family archive. The archive was the only one to survive the looting during the Thirty Years’ War and became the basis of an extensive archive that is kept in the chateau to this day.
After Petr Vok's death, the five-petalled rose was broken over his coffin in the church in Třeboň and the property passed into the hands of the Lords of Švamberk for several years. However, the chateau was confiscated at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War due to their disobedience towards the emperor and subsequently poorly managed by the imperial court. It was not until 1660 that new owners, counts and later on the princes of Schwarzenberg acquired the chateau and the estate. They had a high regard for the town and the landscape, perhaps because Třeboň was their first permanent property in Bohemia. They kept the memory of the Rožmberk era alive and never transformed the chateau into a representative seat. For them, the chateau was a very private place where the family regularly gathered to celebrate Christmas between 1895 and 1922. The uniqueness of the town is also accentuated by the fact that the Schwarzenbergs chose it as their final resting place. In the 19th century they had a monumental neo-Gothic tomb with a chapel and a crypt built near the place where Count Jan Adolf I was first welcomed to the newly purchased town. This is where 26 members of the Swarzenberg family rest in peace, with the exception of the wife of the first Czech Schwarzenberg, who was buried in the crypt of the Church of St. Giles.
Did you know that... Jiří Hanzelka, who travelled all over the world with Miroslav Zikmund in Tatra vehicles, is buried in the immediate vicinity of the Schwarzenberg tomb?
Our tip:
You can find the late Baroque Chapel of St. Vitus and the Pergola by St. Vitus with a statue of sinful Pergolína on the outskirts of the town. You can also see the flood bridges, familiar from fairy-tales, in nearby Stará Hlína.
Natives and notables:
- Jakub Krčín (1535–1604) – a fishpond builder who also built breweries for the nobility, farmyards, sheep pens, mills and glassworks. Krčín was a regent of the Rožmberk dominions and supposedly a harsh and merciless businessman. The “Bohemia Regent” brewery in Třeboň was named after him.