"Historical City of Klasterec nad Ohri " a Klasterec nad Ohri Travel Page by jitkaceska

The first references to a settlement here date back to the end of the 12th century. At that time, an order of Benedictine monks from the village of Postoloprty built a branch of their provostry, a so-called claustrellum (small monastery), here. Although provostry disappeared during the 13th century, the name of the settlement survived and was changed to the German Klosterlin and then to the Czech Klasterzecs during the 15th century.

In the past, the Klasterec estate was held by various aristocratic families. One of the most renowned of them were the Thuns who purchased the confiscated estate in 1623. Their influence was quite distinctive throughout the region until the end of the 19th century and many historically valuable monuments in the town commemorate the family name. There is the Baroque Church of the Holy Trinity, the neo-Gothic chateau, or the nine-hectare English country park with its Sala Terrena and unique dendrological specimens. The chateau burned down on a number of occasions and took on its current pseudo-Gothic appearance after a fire in the year 1856. The chateau is currently completely restored and is home to a museum of Czech porcelain. The Sala Terrena is an early Baroque garden storied building with a terrace that connects up to a wing corridor arcade. It was built in the second half of the 17th century and features a number of statues created by J. Brokoff.

Klasterec nad Ohri began to take on greater significance at the end of the 18th century. It was here that J. M. Weber in 1794 established a porcelain factory that later made the town as well as the knowledge and skills of the local people famous. Presently, porcelain is produced in new premises and its production represents one of the most important activities of the town. Since the original factory was taken over by the Thuns in 1820, all products made here still carry the family’s name.

Klášterec Music Fountain
This original music festival has been organised in Klášterec under the patronage of violin virtuoso Jaroslav Svěcený since 2005. As a part of the festival, Jaroslav Svěcený and Dana Vlachová of the Prague Academy of Music conduct training courses for young violinists. All concerts take place in the pleasant environment of local chateau and the Church of Holy Trinity which has excellent acoustic qualities. This year, the performers included inter alia the Virtuosi Pragenses Orchestra with famous solo trumpet player of the Czech Philharmonics Miroslav Kejmar, multi-genre composer and pianist Richard Pachman, singer Dita Hořínková, excellent Czech guitar player Lubomír Brabec or opera singer and popular television hostess Martina Kociánová. Jaroslav Svěcený not only performs at every concert but also introduces all other artists. Klášterec Music Fountain takes place at the beginning of July.

The Eurokov summer symposium of craft blacksmiths and metal sculptors from all over Europe took place for the first time as early as in 1998 when twelve blacksmiths from the Czech Republic and Germany accepted an invitation of Karel Meloun. Their joint sculpture titled Eurototem was to symbolise European collectivism. It represented the beginning of a long-term tradition. Because it is organised biannually, the public and the artists had to wait for the next Eurokov until 2000. At that time, the participants came not only from the Czech Republic and Germany, but also from Austria, Russia and Denmark. They showed their craft in the atelier of Karel Meloun and in Chateau Park, in front of Sala Terrena. Their joint work was titled Eurozahrada (Eurogarden). The third Eurokov, in 2002, was negatively affected by the floods as several invited artists were unable to come. Nevertheless, the event attracted a considerable number of visitors. In 2004, the visitors had an opportunity to admire all works of art not only during Eurokov itself, but also for an additional month at Chateau Klášterec. The most popular event by far was night smithing accompanied by an extensive cultural programme. The last Eurokov, whose main motif was Celtic craft, took place in 2006. The next Eurokov is scheduled for August 2008.

The castle was built in the 16th century. After two burnings it has pseudo-Gothis-Romantic look. It is four-winged, one -floor building around a square inner courtyard, it is oriented with its diagonals to cardinal points, has prismatic tower, which is higher than the building itself. It is The Czech China Museum inside - one of the greatest European specialised museums of such type.
For the last five years, an exclusive event titled Live Chateau Scenes has been taking place at Klášterec Chateau on one of the holiday weekends. The visitors – instead of listening to the usual lecture on the Chateau’s history – can admire live scenes inspired by famous paintings and executed by professional actors and students of the Prague Academy of Arts. This event, whose main purpose is to promote tourism in the region of Ústí nad Labem, is organised by the Modua Agency located in Chomutov.

At the beginning of every December, the lights of a giant Christmas tree standing in front of the Town Hall are turned on. On this occasion, the entire town square and all surrounding streets are full of the locals as well as visitors and Christmas market stands. The Christmas atmosphere is further enhanced by Christmas carols and live scenes from the Nativity. Everyone is looking forward to the evening when the Christmas tree is turned on and the sky is illuminated by magnificent fireworks.