Zámek Dačice

Dačice Chateau is a Renaissance-turned-Baroque residence in the South Bohemian town of Dačice, remembered above all as the birthplace, through its own owners, of the modern sugar cube.

Who built the chateau in Dačice?

The present building dates to the 16th century, when the Krajíř of Krajek family, Carinthian nobles who held the Dačice estate, commissioned a new Renaissance seat. The design is attributed to the Italian builder Francesco Garofo da Bissone, working for Oldřich Krajíř, and the structure first appears in the town's land records in 1591 as a new building — a useful anchor for dating the core of today's chateau.

How did the chateau change over the centuries?

After the Krajíř line died out, the estate passed through several noble families until Count Heinrich Karl von Ostein bought it in 1728 and began converting the Renaissance house into a Baroque residence, with work carried out under architect Francesco Perrini; the chateau's clock tower still carries the date 1713. A second major turning point came in 1809, when the estate was inherited by the Dalberg family from the Upper Rhine. Between 1818 and 1820, Karl Anton Maximilian Dalberg had the interiors thoroughly reworked in a Neoclassical spirit, including a so-called Gothic Hall that mixed Neo-Gothic detailing with the period's taste for eclecticism.

In the 1830s, architect Karl Schleps regularised the façade and added a prominent entrance risalit, and the staircase created during this campaign is regarded as one of the region's finer pieces of Neoclassical architecture. The last major transformation before nationalisation came in 1909, when Viennese architect Hans Prutschera designed a late Art Nouveau library and a Neo-Baroque chapel for the chateau.

What does the chateau have to do with the invention of the sugar cube?

It was the Dalberg family who helped establish the sugar refinery in Dačice that put the town on the map of food-industry history. In 1843, Jakub Kryštof Rad, the refinery's manager, worked out a way to press sugar into regular cubes — reportedly prompted by an 1841 incident in which his wife Juliana cut her hand while hand-cutting a sugar loaf. The invention itself happened at the refinery rather than inside the chateau walls, but it is inseparable from the family that owned the estate, and it remains the main reason visitors come to Dačice today; a granite monument in the town commemorates the event.

What happened to the chateau in the 20th century?

The last private owner from the Dalberg line was Johann Dalberg, who died in 1940; the estate then briefly passed to the Salm-Salm family before being nationalised in 1945 and opened to the public. A comprehensive restoration between 1990 and 1996 saved the ageing fabric of the building and prepared it for its current role as a museum and tourist attraction.

Frequently asked questions

Was the sugar cube invented inside Dačice Chateau? The cube itself was created at the town's sugar refinery, not within the chateau's rooms, but the refinery was founded by the Dalberg family, the chateau's owners — which is why the two are so closely linked in local history.

What architectural style is the chateau? It combines a 16th-century Renaissance core with 18th-century Baroque remodelling and Neoclassical and eclectic interiors added in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Who was the last private owner of the chateau? Johann Dalberg, who died in 1940; the property briefly passed to the Salm-Salm family before nationalisation in 1945.

Can visitors tour the chateau today? Yes — following a full restoration carried out between 1990 and 1996, the chateau operates as a museum open to visitors.