Praha urged the Ministry of Finance to transfer the Veleslavín Castle to it free of charge

Prague - The leadership of Prague has called on the Ministry of Finance to transfer the Veleslavín chateau in Prague 6 free of charge. The price of 523 million crowns demanded by the Office for the Representation of the State in Property Matters (ÚZSVM) is considered disproportionate by the city, especially given that the dilapidated chateau requires investments in the order of hundreds of millions. This is evident from a letter sent by Prague councilor Adam Zábranský (Pirates) to Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS), which has been made available to ČTK. The ministry has received the letter and will address it; both parties are negotiating about exchanging assets, not about a sale, stated Filip Běhal from the ministry's press department.

Prague has been trying to acquire the chateau since 2018, and according to earlier plans, it intends to build a hospice center among other things. The 18th-century chateau and the adjacent park are closed and deteriorating.

"The city's interest in acquiring this property remains, but we cannot pay the state more than half a billion crowns when the repairs of the existing buildings alone to make them operational will cost hundreds of millions," Zábranský informed ČTK.

According to the councilor, it is in the public interest for the city to obtain the monument in its ownership, and to do so free of charge in accordance with a project that the city developed for such a transfer in the past. The city wants to not only repair the chateau but also make the area accessible to the public and build civic amenities there.

"The Ministry of Finance has indeed received the relevant letter from councilor Zábranský. We will now familiarize ourselves with its content in detail and, after consulting with ÚZSVM, we will decide on the next steps," said Běhal. The state has been negotiating with the city about asset exchanges for a long time and several have already been realized. In the planned exchange, they are negotiating a possible swap of the Veleslavín chateau for the Faust House and several smaller plots of land, such as a parking lot near state buildings. "It is meant to be an exchange, not that Prague would pay the state for the Veleslavín chateau," added Běhal.

If the state were to sell the area at auction, Zábranský warns that the chateau would continue to deteriorate. Moreover, a potential private owner would push for inappropriate massive construction due to the high price. "If the state sold the chateau and the chateau grounds at auction, it would be hard for someone with a truly sincere interest in repairing the building as the monument deserves to acquire it," Zábranský added. If the city were to acquire it, it would invest together with Prague 6 in its preservation.

The Veleslavín chateau, with its historic park, covers three hectares and dates back to around 1725. It was built according to the designs of Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer for Empress Amálie of Brunswick. In the first half of the 20th century, it served as a neurological sanatorium founded by Leo Kosák and one of the discoverers of Alzheimer's disease, Oskar Fischer. Notable patients included Charlotta Garrigue Masaryková and Milena Jesenská.

After the communist coup, the area was nationalized. After the revolution, various institutions rented the building. It now falls under ÚZSVM, which acquired it from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in 2015. Recently, the chateau and the adjacent buildings have been deteriorating, and the area along with the forest park is closed to the public. The last reconstruction of the area took place in 1986.