Attractions

The larger-than-life statue of an Austrian grenadier is one of the first artistically conceived cast-iron sculptures in Bohemia. It is also one of the oldest examples of European art casting. The statue is made of hollow, thick-walled, French cast iron. It was cast in individual parts using a wooden model. Those parts were later joined together. The original form of the grenadier was created in 1756, when the first figures were cast in Strašice on the Zbiroh estate, east of Pilsen. They were ordered by the government of Maria Theresa for the military academy of Wiener Neustadt. The sculptures were about 2.5 m high, hollow and weighed 40 Viennese quintals (about 2240 kg) with a wall thickness of 60 mm to 60 cm, in some places even more. The origins of the in Strašice foundry date back to the 14^th century. Foundry products had been produced here since the 17^th century. The original sculptures initially adorned the corners of the fountain in the courtyard of Zbiroh Castle, the family seat of the Colloredo-Mannsfeld family. Between 1779 and 1805 they were brought to Wiener Neustadt, where they served as radiators in the stairwell of the Theresian Military Academy. In the middle of the 19^th century, the sculptures were moved to the representative building of the Winter Riding School of the Military Academy, where they also stood during the bombing raids in 1945. Up to this date it is unknown what happened to them after that. The builder of the sculptures is also unknown. In 1890 another three grenadiers were cast in Strašice using the same model. Two of those sculptures were brought to Prague for the National Exhibition. The third sculpture was intended for Zbiroh Castle, as documents from that time show. One copy was loaned to Brno for the exhibition of “past and modern foundry art”. The sculpture survived World War II unscathed there. In the 1950s, it became part of the collection of the Technical Museum, that was getting built there. In 1983 the sculpture came to Slavkov Castle, and after another five years to a service station on the D1 highway near Rohlenka. At present, it is again located in Slavkov Castle. This statue is not colored. Another statue is located in the park in Holoubkov above the local Kovosvit factory and the third one is standing in the courtyard of Dobříš Castle. On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the casting of the original sculptures, the Strašice Foundry decided to cast a new sculpture based on a preserved wooden model borrowed from the depot of the City Museum in Zbiroh. This statue now stands on the grounds of the foundry.

Prince Josef II Colloredo-Mannsfeld had the white-tailed deer (Virginia deer) brought from North America to his territory in Bohemia around 1853. Besides Finland, the area around Dobříš is the only region in Europe where the white-tailed deer can be found.        

The distinctive feature of the white-tailed deer is its forward-facing antlers and the eponymous white tail (“frond”). The doe (female) weighs 40 – 90kg and does not have antlers, while the male weighs between 50 – 100kg and sheds its antlers between January and March.   

The summer coat of the deer is short and has a reddish-brown colour, whereas the winter coat is more of a grey-brown colour and longer than in the summer. The lower part of the head, neck and the abdomen is white like the tail, which is 15 to 30cm long with long hair.
When in danger, the deer jump up with all four of their legs and straighten their frond.

White-tailed deer like an environment where forests alternate with fields and meadows.

The rut of Virginia deer takes place in November, the gestation period lasts about 7 months and the doe gives birth to 1-2 cubs that have white spots on their backs and sides.

Like other members of the Cervidae family, white-tailed deer communicate with each other with their fronds.

The bench dates back to the time when Dobříš Castle served as a work and leisure facility, the so-called Writers’ Home, for the members of the Czech Literature Fund after World War II. Writers stayed here in rooms that all looked the same. Those rooms were assigned to them with vouchers, The length of the stay usually ranged from a week to several months.

The writers did not only have access to the castle, but also to the parks, that were also accessible to the public. People from Dobříš were quite sceptical towards the writer, that lived in the castle. “There’s writers living in the castle now, it’s all downhill from here. They are partying there. Who knows what else is going on in there…“

During the writers’ era many famous personalities came to visit Dobříš Castle and stayed there for a short or a long time.