Vysoký Hrádek

Vysoký Hrádek is a small Renaissance chateau standing in the village of Zvěrkovice, part of the Temelín municipality in the České Budějovice district of South Bohemia. For decades the building has held something no other Czech castle has - the visitor information centre of a nuclear power plant.

Where is Vysoký Hrádek located?

The chateau stands roughly 5 kilometres from Týn nad Vltavou, within Zvěrkovice, a village barely 3 kilometres from the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant complex. Zvěrkovice has been administratively part of the Temelín municipality since 1 July 1985, which is why many records list the site simply as being "in Temelín" even though its exact address falls within Zvěrkovice. That single administrative fact explains why the same location turns up under two different place names.

How did the chateau come to be?

The earliest written record of a seat on this spot dates to 1367 and names Albert z Březí. What stood here originally was a Gothic tvrz - a modest fortified manor - which passed through the hands of several local noble families over the following centuries, including the houses of Býšov and Úšava.

When did the Malovec family take over?

The turning point came in 1526, when the estate was bought by Zikmund Malovec. The Malovec family of Chýnov held the property until the early 19th century, steadily expanding the surrounding land holdings. It was under their ownership that the medieval tvrz was rebuilt - first into a Renaissance residence, and then, around 1790 under Václav Malovec, reshaped closer to a Baroque manor house. The tower still bears the Malovec coat of arms with the date 1805 and the initials "WM", a record of the family's final round of building work.

What happened to the estate after the Malovecs?

In 1825, the last of the line, František Malovec, sold the property to Josef Hirsch for 65,000 gold coins. Over the following decades ownership changed hands repeatedly, passing through a string of bourgeois and merchant families. After further ownership changes in the 20th century, the estate belonged to the Diviš family, from whom the energy company ČEZ bought it in 1994 as part of a post-restitution transaction - at the very time ČEZ was building the nearby Temelín nuclear plant.

Why is the chateau linked to a nuclear power plant?

After the purchase, ČEZ had the building thoroughly renovated. Since October 1997, Vysoký Hrádek has served as the Information Centre of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant, hosting a multimedia exhibition that explains the basics of nuclear energy and physics - including 3D films and a fog chamber that makes traces of radiation visible. Pairing a Renaissance-era building with a modern nuclear-energy exhibit is unusual, and there is nothing quite like it anywhere else in the region.

Can visitors tour the information centre?

It is worth checking the current schedule before planning a visit, since the exhibition has at times been closed temporarily for renovation work. Contacting the centre in advance is the safest way to confirm opening times before setting out.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Vysoký Hrádek located? In Zvěrkovice, a village that is part of the Temelín municipality in the České Budějovice district, about 5 km from Týn nad Vltavou and under 3 km from the Temelín nuclear power plant.

Why do some sources say Temelín instead of Zvěrkovice? Because Zvěrkovice has been an administrative part of the Temelín municipality since 1985 - both names refer to the same place, just at different levels of the administrative division.

Who built Vysoký Hrádek? The first record of a seat here dates to 1367 (Albert z Březí); the chateau took its current Renaissance-Baroque form under the Malovec family, who held the estate from 1526 onward.

What is the building used for today? Since 1997 it has housed the Information Centre of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant, with a multimedia exhibition on nuclear energy.

Why is there a nuclear power plant next to the castle? The Temelín plant was built next to the estate in the 1980s and 1990s; the company building it, ČEZ, bought the chateau in 1994 and converted it into a visitor education centre.