Thun Chapel

Come and see the Thun Chapel of St. John of Nepomuk, the family crypt of the important Thun-Hohenstein family.

Historical crash course

On the site of the neo-Gothic building there used to be a Baroque chapel, which was built on the initiative of the parishioners of Rozběle and their parish priest, Franz Johann Zincke. The most important part of its decoration was a gallery of statues of the Fourteen Helpers and the Six Virtues by the Litoměřice sculptor Josef Fischer. After the initial enthusiasm, however, the chapel mostly languished and came to life only on the feast days of its patron saint.

In 1822 the building came under the patronage of the Thun-Hohenstein family, who had their family crypt built here. That is why the chapel is called the Thun chapel. In 1870-1872, however, the original chapel was dismantled and replaced by a contemporary neo-Gothic building designed by the Viennese architect Friedrich Schmidt. Josef Mocker, who was starting out at the time, was put in charge of the construction. Members of the Thun-Hohenstein family were buried here until 1935.

After the war, the building remained out of sight and suffered frequent attacks by vandals. These eventually forced the exhumation of the remains and their transfer to the crypt of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Baroque statues also had to be moved from the enclosure wall to the interior. In 1998, an exhibition on the history of the building was installed in the chapel. Between 2001 and 2008 the chapel was under the ownership of the civic association Initiative for the Děčín Chateau. It opened the building to the public, introduced a regular guided tour service and published promotional materials in an effort to present this important, but still somewhat neglected monument in a more significant way and to bring it closer to both visitors to the town and its inhabitants. Since June 2008, the chapel has been managed by the contributory organization Chateau Děčín.(Source: Chateau Děčín, p.o.)

Opening hours

It is open only on weekends on the following dates: 25-26 June, 30-31 July, 27-28 August, 24-25 September (from 13:00 to 18:00). From October to May the chapel is closed. To book tours outside these times, please call 412 518 905.

Admission

Tickets can be purchased on site and a tourist card can only be purchased at the Thun Chapel.