Švýcárna – The Kladruber Horse Museum

The interactive Museum of the Kladruber Horse is located in the castle park near the UNESCO-listed Slatiňany State Stud Farm. The museum is dedicated to the history of horse breeding, hippology and the saver of the Kladruber breed, František Bílek. Its exhibits thus complement the hippology museum in Slatiňany Castle.

On the site of today`s so-called Švýcárna (Swiss-house) there was originally a hunting lodge, which was used by the Ausperger family, who managed the nearby Slatiňany chateau, to accommodate guests on their estate. In 1839 the hunting lodge was converted into a shepherd`s hut according to the Swiss shepherd`s huts that the then estate manager Vincenc Charles of Ausperger saw during his travels in Europe and was inspired by them. The original hunting lodge with new ground-floor wings and a modified facade served as guest accommodation until the First World War, when it was used for the employees of the local Slatiňany stud farm. During the 1970s and 1980s, the film Death in the Saddle and the successful series Good Water were filmed in the beautiful surroundings of the castle park. Gradually, however, the building turned into a ruin and was saved only by the reconstruction with the support of the European Union, which enabled the reopening of the Swiss House and its transformation into a public museum. Today, this interactive museum houses a permanent exhibition on the history of local breeding of Kladruber horses, the history of the Slatiňany estate and the personality of Professor František Bílek, who contributed most to the restoration of the breeding of local Kladruber horses. The museum is uniquely the largest collection of horse whips and their parts and also has the largest stuffed horse in the Czech Republic.

50 let hřebčína Slatiňany 1945─1995. Kladruby nad Labem, 1995.

(Author: PH)

(Author: PH)

(Author: PH)