Tourist Information

The Kolowrat nature trail opened in 2007 and leads tourists primarily through the Kolowrat Forests. Eighteen stations are laid out over a nearly 20 km path, most of which are linked to the history or the current state of the Kolowrat estate.

1. Highway
2. Kolowrat Forests
3. Mushrooms in Czech forests
4. New international border crossing
5. Český les Protected Landscape Area (PLA)
6. Quarrying by the Kolowrats in the Rozvadov area
7. Jezírka u Rozvadova Nature Reserve
8. Kolowrat forest railroad
9. Diana border patrols
10. Diana Nature Reserve
11. Diana
12. Diana sawmill
13. Hoofed animals in our region
14. Old brick factory
15. Town of Svatá Kateřina (St. Catherine)
16. Svatá Kateřina (St. Catherine) farmyard
17. Highway
18. Old cemetery and the old royal road

An extensive network of bike trails criss-crosses the Kolowrat Forests. Count František Tomáš Kolowrat-Krakovský had a number of forest roads built as part of his administration of the Kolowrat Forests, which later became part of the system of bike trails connecting various parts of the Czech forests.

An extensive English park teeming with rare arboreal species, such as exotic conifers, oaks, black beeches, horse chestnuts and many others, surrounds the hunting lodge. An avenue of ash trees leads to the south, and an avenue of elm, maple and lime trees leads to the north.

The Novohradskýs from Kolowrat managed the estate until 1806, when the family trust passed to the last surviving member of the Kolovrat-Libštejnský family, Count František Antonín (1778-1861). After his death the Novohradský trust passed back to the last living descendant, this time to the Březnický branch of the Kolovrat-Krakovský family – Jan Nepomuk Karel, known as Hanuš (1794-1872). After Count Hanuš, a great patriot and patron, the Kolovrat-Krakovský’s Týnec and Bešiny together with the Novohradský trust was passed to the majorat, the oldest living descendant, Leopold Kolowrat-Krakowský (1852-1910. Leopold’s descendants owned the palace until 1943, when it was transferred to the German Reich. In 1945 it was returned to Count Jindřich Kolowrat-Krakovský, but was again confiscated after 1948. In 1960, the lodge was converted into a retirement home for senior citizens.

When the hunting lodge was returned to Jindřich Kolowrat-Krakovský in 1992, it was in very poor condition. Some of the architectural changes that were made to the palace when it was converted into a retirement home are unfortunately irreversible. Mrs Dominika Kolowrat-Krakovská is currently starting the first steps of a gradual, long-term renovation.

Also the adjacent settlement and nearby surrounding (Dianaberg in earlier sources) were named after Diana hunting lodge. At present the name is used for one of the forest districts of Kolowrat Forests, for hunting ground a game preserve where mouflons are raised.

On one of the access roads to the north of the hunting lodge Diana stands a small wooden chapel dedicated to the Mother of God and St. Sophia. Count Jindřich Kolowrat-Krakovský had it built in 1939 at his woodworking company, presumably as a memorial to his deceased first wife, Princess Sofia Trubecká.

On the northern slope below the ruins of Přimda Castle, well off all paths, sits a small chapel. According to local contemporaries, on this spot, sometime at the beginning of the 20th century, a German peasant from Újezd pod Přimda had a statue of the Virgin Mary made, presumably as thanks for saving his daughter. Since the statue was soon damaged by high winds, he built a chapel over it. After the expulsion of the German population from the border areas, the chapel fell into ruins and its destruction was completed by the windstorm Kyrill in 2007, when it was crushed by a falling tree. Mrs Dominika Kolowrat-Krakovská had the chapel completely rebuilt and it is currently awaiting the return of the statue of the Virgin Mary.

In the early 14^th century, the Lucemburk rule fell into financial difficulties and Jan Lucemburský was forced to pawn the castle, and it was then managed by royal burgraves. In 1318 it was held by the powerful Vilém Zajíce z Valdeka. One of the holders of Přimda, the Boršovs of Osek, ran a gang of thieves. During the punitive expedition of King Václav IV, more than 30 thieves were captured on the castle grounds while playing dice and were hanged in Prague, but the castle and their leader, however, were not captured. In 1429 Přimda was besieged by Hussites, but the castle guard forced them to retreat. The Švamberks, who held it from 1454 to 1590, were in conflict with the Chods of Přimda, and left the castle in 1580 and let it fall into disrepair. Rudolf II needed financial resources for the war with the Turks and gradually sold off the castle with its title in 1593. No buyer was found for the decaying castle, and it changed hands a number of times.

In 1675 Jan Václav Novohradský z Kolovrat purchased the title and the castle. A large part of the land surrounding the castle is part of the estate of the Kolowrat family even today. The Přimda Nature Reserve, located below the castle, was created in 1998 and is almost entirely within the Kolowrat Forests.

Thanks to the sharply sloping terrain, which left just a small clearing at the top, the castle was never very large and all the craftsmen lived within the castle walls. On the other hand, thanks to its location, the castle was considered to be securely fortified from the beginning. All that remains of the castle is the original prismatic three-story tower with 4m thick walls that served as a dwelling for the burgrave or holder.

In 1962 the ruins of Přimda Castle were declared a National Cultural Heritage Site, and it is currently the property of the city of Přimda.

The largest repairs were made between 1907-1910 when the castle gained its present baroque face. In 1910 the Leopold’s son Alexandr Kolowrat-Krakowský establishes film ateliers in Velké Dvorce castle. They were moved to Vienna after another big fire in 1912. The castle was repaired again but Alexander’s brother, Jindřich Kolowrat-Krakovský, moves the family seat to Diana hunting lodge.

During the World War I the castle serves as a hospital and during World War II the repairs, transforming the castle to temporary housing facility for Hitlerjungen members, begin. Afterwards there lived German and American soldiers for a short time. After war the castle was said to be changed to the rest home but the repairs for this purpose were not finished. After 1989 the castle is returned to Jindřich Kolowrat-Krakovský, who sells it in 1992.