Lusthaus

Lusthaus is a small baroque hunting lodge tucked into the forests of Podyjí National Park, standing on a wooded plateau between the village of Lesná and the hamlet of Čížov (part of the Horní Břečkov municipality, Znojmo district, South Moravian Region), right along the Austrian border. Its German name, roughly "pleasure house," points straight at its original purpose: a place for the nobility to rest and celebrate after a day's hunt.

Why was a lodge built here, deep in the woods?

The building went up in the second half of the 18th century, most likely around 1780, commissioned by Michael Josef Althan, owner of the nearby Vranov estate. Lusthaus sits at the exact center of the former Čížov game preserve, a hunting ground laid out with straight paths radiating outward from a single point like spokes. This star-shaped layout let beaters drive game toward the middle, where hunters waited, while the lodge itself served as a command post and resting place during the chase. That the building already looked much as it does now by the late 18th century is confirmed by a surviving veduta at Vranov Castle, painted before 1799, which shows the lodge in a form close to today's.

What went on inside during its heyday?

The two-storey rectangular building split its functions by floor. Downstairs, servants processed the game brought in from the hunt and prepared food, filling the air with smoke and roasting meat. Upstairs, in a proper reception room, the nobility gathered once the hunt was done — hosting banquets and social gatherings. That room was decorated with stencilled wall paintings combining ornamental patterns with hunting motifs, a decorative style typical of similar pavilions across 18th-century Central Europe.

What happened to its original appearance?

A fire in the second half of the 19th century seriously damaged Lusthaus, and the rebuilding that followed changed its silhouette: the original mansard roof was replaced with a four-sided, pyramid-shaped roof, and an overhang supported on slender wooden posts was added above the portico — the look the building still has today. A further, thorough restoration took place in 2002. Since then the lodge has been cared for by the Administration of Podyjí National Park, which maintains it as a stop along the park's hiking trails, though the interior itself remains closed to visitors.

How do you get there, and what else is nearby?

The lodge stands on a forested plateau roughly 1.5 km southwest of Lesná and about 2.5 km northwest of Čížov, at an elevation of around 490 metres. It's reached via the yellow-marked trail running from Lesná toward Ledové sluje (the ice caves/rock formations), with the route continuing on toward Vranov nad Dyjí. Benches and information panels around the building make it a comfortable rest stop on a walk through the national park. In the village of Čížov itself, a few kilometres away, a preserved stretch of the Iron Curtain — the Communist-era border fence — survives along with the Špačkárna watchtower. It's a separate site, but many visitors combine both stops on a single trip through Podyjí.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside Lusthaus? No — the interior is currently closed to visitors. You can view it from the outside and rest on the benches nearby.

Who built Lusthaus, and when? It was built in the second half of the 18th century, most likely around 1780, commissioned by Michael Josef Althan, owner of the Vranov estate.

Is Lusthaus connected to the Iron Curtain? Not directly. The Iron Curtain remnants, including the Špačkárna watchtower, are located in the village of Čížov itself, a few kilometres from the lodge — a separate, nearby stop on a tour of Podyjí.

How do you reach Lusthaus on foot? The easiest route is the yellow-marked trail from Lesná toward Ledové sluje; the lodge sits right along the way, on a forested plateau at about 490 metres elevation.