Zprávy památkové péče 2017, 77(Příloha):74-81

Julius Scheurer and Opočno

Matouš Jirák¹, Milan Junek²

¹ NPÚ, ÚOP v Josefově

² NPÚ, ÚPS Sychrov

This article focuses on the results of Julius Ernst Scheurer's research work at Opočno Castle, especially on his unique illustrated card file of the armory.
The Colloredo-Mannsfeld collection of weapons and armor stored at the Opočno State Castle is one of the most important sets of its kind in the Czech Republic. This collection of artifacts likely originated initially during the 19th century with weapons and hunting equipment used for local hunts. Its most dynamic development is associated with Josef Colloredo-Mannsfeld (1866-1957), who established two halls of the northern wing for the collection during the reconstruction of the Opočno Castle after 1895. He thus laid out the foundations for one of the largest family armories in our country, beginning with his own at least thirty years of collecting.
The task of professionally collating and cataloging the armory's items was entrusted in 1908 at the latest to the Viennese expert Julius Ernst Scheurer, who created two line inventories and two illustrated inventories for Opočno by 1933. The preserved part of the illustrated inventory is composed like a card file, in which the exhibits are mostly individually registered on 1757 cards, with 758 of these items provided with an ink hand drawing.
The introductory part of the article deals with the history of the collection from the Baroque period; special attention is paid to Scheurer's professional work as well as the work of his followers from the 1930-80's, who followed up or revised the older inventories. Attention is also devoted to the oldest inventories of the 18th century, with which the author of the file cards clearly worked.
The research has brought new insights into the development of the collection and credits the contributions of Josef Colloredo-Mannsfeld as collector. The development of the Opočno armory probably does not end at the beginning of the 20th century, as is indicated by sources, but it was interrupted by the approaching World War II.
Detailed exploration and comparison of inventories attempted to uncover the methods by which they were created. Close attention was paid to the drawings, in which the effort was made in concrete cases to illuminate their striking resemblance to photos from auction catalogs as well as the reasons for their occasional documentary inaccuracies. The method of the author's work suggests the aforementioned controversy regarding the description of some exhibits.
Scheurer's descriptions and drawings also capture a number of forgotten historical installations, proving the fragmentation of the collection by interventions from reinstallations, as well as documenting the original appearance and condition of a number of exhibits.
Unfortunately, very austere information was preserved on the missing card part of the illustrated card file, which would undoubtedly be a significant contribution to identifying exhibits from the historical inventory with the items of today's Opočno collection.
Also, the actual person of Scheurer, especially his professional activities, is conspicuously preserved. Practically the only source available are the results of his work - whether they be inventories of collections of foreign castles (Peleš, Sighartstein) or catalogs of auction companies with whom he worked (Dorotheum, C.J. Wawra, etc.).
For the needs of the research, other documents on the purchases of exhibits, auction catalogs, historical photographs of exhibitions, sub-lists of items (Verseichniss), entries on removed objects (Protectorate), available information about the original Opočno exhibits in other collections and, of course, literature were all used and evaluated in addition to the inventory of the armory from 1727-1953.

Keywords: Julius Ernst Scheurer, Opočno Castle, Castle armory

Published: December 1, 2017  Show citation