History | Country Hotel Svitavice

The History of the Country Hotel SVITAVICE

Local “old wives tales” maintain that the name Svitavice originates from the combination of the words “svítá” (it dawns) and “více” (more), and that in the middle of the 15th century, the property, which then belonged to the estates of the royal family of Premysl, served as “compensation money” for a woman, pregnant to the Lords of Kunštát.

But research of the real history of Svitavice (for which profound thanks must go to Mrs. Michaela Kořista of Brno) was inspired by a desire for knowledge about the coat-of-arms which stands above the front door of Svitavice, in the direction to the lake Křetínka.

Coat of Arms

It transpires that the coat-of-arms is that of the family Blümegen, owners of the Letovice estates (including Svitavice) during the period 1723 to 1813. (More of which, later.) The particular coat-of-arms, which has three crests, was valid during the period 1720 to 1760, following which Blümegen attained the status of count and the coat-of-arms then bore four crests, so it must be presumed that Svitavice was reconstructed during the latter period.

Hopefully in due course the coat-of-arms will be restored.

Name

The first historical mention of the name Svitavice was found in 1409 (ze Svitavice – of Svitavice), and later on in 1438, 1464 (z Switawicze – of Svitavice), etc. This was around the same time as the foundation of the castle of Letovice. (The well in the courtyard Svitavice is said to be an historical well from the 15th century.)

Old wives tales notwithstanding, the word Svitavice is more likely a diminutive of the name Svitava (the river); c.f. Opava – Opavice, Ostrava – Ostravice, etc. The name Svitava could also mean a river with pure, limpid water. [The verb “svitat” is still used locally in north-eastern Moravia, the so called Valašsko Walachia. (Napít sa sviťacej vody – to drink pure water.)] The names ending with –ice, e.g. Jihlava-Jihlavice, Vltava-Vltavice or Svitava and Svitavice were originally used for head-waters of rivers. Thus, the name Svitavice is not composed of the words: svítá + vice, but of svitav + ice.

History of Svitavice

The exact time when the estate of Svitavice was joined to the Letovice manor, has not been ascertained. In 1569, however, Jan Tas of Lomnice was named as the holder of the Svitavice estate. It seems it was joined to Letovice manor in the second half of the 16th century together with half of the village Lazinov which until then had belonged to the Boskovice manor.

In 1635, Svitavice is recorded as a hamlet without inhabitants. The author of the survey of history of Lazinov imputes it to “a not too successful” economic development of the estate. But that year was in the middle of the Thirty Years´ War (1618-1648) during which the area of Bohemia and Moravia was destroyed almost completely and the population dropped by some 75% (!), and very likely this could also be a cause of the bad situation of Svitavice.

But there can be no doubt that by the 17th century Svitavice belonged to the Letovice manor.

Local hearsay suggests that the entire former hamlet was demolished to provide the building materials for the present-day building Svitavice, and it seems that this happened in the 18th century. This tale is supported by two facts – there is no longer a hamlet in the vicinity, and the walls of Svitavice comprise a motley mixture of brick and stone in no apparent order, which could well have come from demolition.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the “Letovice manor and Slatinka estate” (LM) consisted of many villages and estates. Population totalled about 5,100 in 1791 and 6,546 in 1848.

Former Owners

1664 Jiří Štěpán Bruntálský z Vrbna registered LM for countess Eva Erdödy
1667 Eva Erdödy registered LM for Elisabeth z Náchoda
1670 Elisabeth z Náchoda registered LM for Georg Kordič Szelepcsenyi, archbishop of Esztergom (Esztergom is situated in the very north of Hungary now)
1680 Szelepcsenyi died and LM was inherited by his relatives: Jan Maholanyi Pohroncz-Szelepcsenyi and Štěpán (Stephan) Kordič Pohroncz-Sszelepcsenyi.
1692 Jan Maholanyi sold his half of LM to Š. Kordič.
1697 Š.Kordič died, LM inherited by Georg Kordič
1709 G.Kordič died, LM inherited by his five children, who were all under-aged
1711 LM was sold by the provincial court to count Karel Ludvík z Roggendorfu.
1723 (sometimes 1724 is indicated) count Roggendorf sold LM to Heřman Jošt Blümegen, member of a Salzkotten (Westphalia, Germany) family.

The life of the important members of the Blümegen family is to be found in an article by Bohumír Smutný. Blümegens were “newcomers” in the Kingdom of Bohemia; moreover they did not belong to high nobility in Westphalia where they came from, either. During their domicile in Letovice, however, the family reached positions in administration and power they had never reached before. Unfortunately, the family died out in the early 19th century.

The most important member of the Blümegen family who owned Letovice was Jindřich Kajetán Blümegen (1715-1788), allegedly a freemason, high official in Brno, later Landeshauptmann (state captain) of Moravia (approx. 1763-1772) and the First Chancellor of Austria (from 1771). Blümegen was the first one who amongst others attached his signature after the signature of Emperor Josef II to the Decree Abolishing the Serfdom System in 1781. He founded the monastery and hospital in Letovice.

The last descendant of the Blümegen family on the spear side was Petr Alcantara Heřman Blümegen (1754-1813). After his death, the following people inherited the family dominions:

Biskupice and half of Adršpach – count Josef Schaffgotsch (cousin of P.A.H. Blümegen)
Vizovice – Maria Franziska Blümegen, widow of P.A.H. Blümegen.
Letovice – Maria Eleonora Kálnoky, née Blümegen (+1821), sister of Petr Alcantara, the last descendant of Blümegen family on the distaff-side. She married count Ludvík Štepán Kálnoky, baron of Köröspatak (1743-1793).

Kálnoky – coat of arms

The Kálnoky family comes from Transylvania (situated in Romania now) and unlike the Blümegens (who were not a family with a long noble tradition), their first known ascendant was mentioned in deeds in the 13th century. It was not unusual that Hungarian nobility bought estates in Moravia. It was quite practical as the distances between Moravia, Hungary and Austria were not too long and moreover, Moravian estates were close to Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Count Jindřich Antonín Kálnoky (1765-1822) spent his childhood with his Blümegen grandparents, and the Emperor Franz II appointed him a Chamberlain. Since 1813, he spent summers at Letovice and winters in Brno.

Count Gustav Josef Kálnoky (1799-1884), became an army officer and later a Chamberlain. He married Countess Isabella von Schrattenbach (1809-1875), who was the last descendant of Schrattenbach family on the distaff-side. For it, Kálnoky administered also her estates, i.e. Brodek u Nezamyslic. Gustav Josef and Isabella had 14 children; one of them - Gustav Sigismund (1832-1898) - was Minister of foreign affairs of Austria-Hungary for 14 years. Later Gustav Josef Kálnoky filed a divorce petition (very unusual in those times). Probably in the early 1870´s physicians declared him ill seriously. He was declared legally incompetent and stayed under guardianship of Count Emanuel Dubský.

Count Alexander Johann Kálnoky (1830-1905), was an army officer. He left the army in 1874 to take care of the estates of his ill father Gustav Josef. He took much care of Letovice. He was single and had no issue.

Count Hugo Leopold Kálnoky (1844-1928) was the youngest son of Gustav Josef and Isabella. All family assets concentrated in his hands: he inherited Letovice from his brother Alexander Johann. He inherited Brodek from his brother Gustav Josef, Csicsó (in Hungary, now Slovakia) from his sister Maria Adelheid (1843-1905) and a part of Schrattenbach estates from his mother Isabella. He married: 1) Maria Gabrielle, née Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein (1858-1889) – 2 sons, and 2) Maria, née zu Herberstein-Proskau (1857-1943) – 6 children.

Due to the many children Hugo Leopold had, he was forced to divide the estates among his children, and Letovice was inherited by Alexander Hugo Kálnoky (grandson), born 1924. Until 1945, his father Alexander Gustav, administered Letovice for him.

Alexander Hugo Kálnoky left Europe for Australia in 1949. From time to time, he comes to Letovice. Why he chose Australia and details of his life there can be found in the book “Příběhy českých šlechticů”.

History in the 20th and 21st Centuries

During the agrarian land reform in 1923 and 1924, the Svitavice estate was completely divided up among small farmers. A very brief history of Svitavice after WWII can be found on the web site of Lazinov.

There are two versions about the fate of the property following World War 1. One speaks about the confiscation of Svitavice by the State and the other about the sale to the State due to indebtedness. No matter which version is true, the fate of the premises after World War 2 is clear.

Svitavice was divided into two portions. The owners of one half were the family Slouk, later Krempl, who still live in this area. The second half was owned by the State Forests enterprise Česky Lesy. The family Nečas bought back part of the property and also spent the rest of their lives here.

In the years 1976 to 1978 the rising waters of the dam Křetínka finally flooded the approaches to Svitavice and the property was sold to a State-owned company from Blansko, which performed extensive modernisation in the context of the then prevailing system for providing recreational arrangements for their employees.

Now Svitavice again serves a recreational purpose, not just for a limited patronage but also for the general public. Here are restaurants, sports facilities, many possibilities for tourism in the vicinity, a beach open to the general public and other activities. Svitavice is enjoyed by pupils from basic schools and kindergartens, sports clubs, special-interest groups and companies, and of course there is also here the possibility of individual holidays for people of all ages. This is a favourite place for fishermen and mushroom gatherers “in the know”, and for lovers of undisturbed nature and of healthy recreation.