Schmitt Castle in Český Dub is a striking neo-Renaissance mansion set within an English-style landscape park, once the family seat of a powerful textile industrialist. Today the building serves as a home for the elderly, but its historic character and surrounding parkland still make it a rewarding stop for anyone exploring the Podještědí region.

The estate lies northwest of the town's historic centre, tucked between the right bank of the Ještědka stream and the streets Zámecká and V Parku. The park, designed by renowned German landscape architect Eduard Petzold, offers a peaceful atmosphere in every season - fresh greenery in spring, golden foliage in autumn, and quiet, shaded paths year-round. The mansion itself, built to a design by Liberec architect Gustav Sachers, blends elegantly with its parkland setting, although the original cast-iron winter garden with its glass dome sadly did not survive past 1945.

How to get there

• From Český Dub town centre - on foot, approx. 10-15 minutes, easy walk
• From Český Dub train station - approx. 20 minutes on foot, easy walk

Practical information

• The castle building (no. 39), owned by the Liberec Region, functions as a retirement home - the interiors are not generally open to visitors
• The nearby Podještědí Museum displays furniture and art pieces once belonging to the Schmitt family collection
• The former gatehouse and outbuildings of the old manor farm still stand within the park grounds

Interestingly, the Art Nouveau dining room from 1907 was designed by Viennese architect Wilhelm Klingenberg, who also redesigned Český Dub's town hall around the same time.