Life in a castle? No easy ride, but hard work

Markéta Kaplanová, former coach of the national swimming team, and her husband Michal, a real estate agent, drew a thick line under their life in Prague when they bought a castle in Nemilkov in the Klatovy region in the fall of 2016. They moved to the foothills of the Šumava Mountains and, together with their loved ones, are trying to revive the castle and restore it to its former beauty. But it's not easy. "I don't feel like a lady of the manor at all, but rather like a castle maid. I'm a jack of all trades here. My day starts at six in the morning and ends at eight or nine in the evening, when I'm totally exhausted," laughs Markéta. She knows full well that it will take several generations of work at the castle before everything looks the way they dreamed it would.

The castle, which is a cultural monument, stands on the site of a former fortress, first mentioned at the end of the 14th century. It had a number of owners, including the infamous General Martin De Huerta. For about 150 years, until the end of World War II, it was owned by the German Schreiner family. "Under their ownership, the place flourished. There was a brewery, a distillery, a forest nursery, an orchard, and more. But after 1945, they were expelled, as the only Germans in the village. The family took it very badly. They divorced, the father went mad, and his son also ended up in an institution. The wife moved to Switzerland. Her daughter is still alive today, an 80-year-old lady, but she is bitter and does not want to communicate," Kaplanová described. She added that after the war, the entire property was first taken over by the Nemilkov Municipal National Committee and then by the United Agricultural Cooperative. In 2012, it was bought by a Czech-German musician, who died two years later. Since the fall of 2016, the castle has been ruled by the Kaplans and the Hagers.

They spent a year clearing out

"It's a dream come true. We wanted to find something we could save. That's why we chose from among buildings that were endangered monuments. We saw several, but we also liked the Šumava environment here," said Michal Kaplan. "We liked it so much that we decided to go for it right away," adds his wife, noting that when they bought the castle, it was clear that it had not been maintained and that no one had lived there for years. "It was devastated, overgrown, and there was nothing in the castle except mice, woodworms, spiders, and unimaginable mess of all kinds. The first year we just cleaned up, it took dozens of containers," recalled Kaplanová.

The most important and biggest task was to reconstruct the roof so that the castle would not leak. "The roof is a big project, we have been repairing it for three years now. When we started, it was a tough nut to crack because it had old asbestos roofing from about a hundred years ago. We were faced with the question of what to replace it with, because tiles couldn't be used, and the roofing had to be lightweight. In the end, we used hand-split shingles imported from the Beskydy Mountains. The roof renovation is very costly, and we were only able to carry it out thanks to contributions from the Pilsen Region and the Ministry of Culture," Kaplanová explained.

Work for generations

In addition to the roof, work is also underway on repairing the interior, some of which already looks like castle rooms. For example, the historic kitchen is finished, and you can take a look at the ballroom with its wall altar and other areas. Work is currently underway on the floor in the welcoming fireplace hall. During the work, a number of shards were discovered, and recently, a time capsule was found at the top of the tower during its reconstruction. "There were newspapers, but they are in poor condition and need to be restored, so they are currently in the freezer, and coins. The oldest of them is medieval, the youngest from the 19th century," described Tereza Hager, the Kaplans' daughter.

Even though the castle is still undergoing repairs, people can go and see it. "We opened the castle to the public immediately after purchasing it, because, first of all, we wanted to raise awareness and, secondly, we wanted to show what it looked like and what it looks like now, and how it is changing. People have been coming this year, but we haven't been able to let them in yet, as it's not allowed. There will also be events here; we have two theater performances and two concerts in the dance hall planned for the season," Kaplanová revealed.

"One day, there should be a hotel, a restaurant with a brewery, a pastry shop, craft production, and a bike point with facilities for cyclists. A project for a bike path between Nemilkov and Velhartice, which will run under the castle, is already underway. We have a lot of plans, but it's financially demanding. And it's a job for several generations," concluded Kaplanová.

The original article was published in Klatovský Deník on May 13.

Author of the article and photographs: Milan Kilián