Dvůr Králové nad Labem

From a distance it looks like a castle. It borrowed its name from the neighbouring former royal forest.  Thanks to its location in the forested valley of the river Elbe, and its architectonic rendering, the dam is one of the most beautiful in the entire Czech Republic, and perhaps that’s why it was declared a National Technical Monument in the year 1964.

The impetus for the construction of dams on the upper flow of the Elbe was the disastrous flood of July 1897. The detailed Royal Forest Dam project (formerly referred to as the Těšnov or Bílá Třemešná dam) was prepared by the Technical Department for River Treatment in Prague under the supervision of construction consultant Mr. Josef Plicka. In the year 1909, the construction part of the water project was awarded to Mr. J. V. Velflík’s company in Prague, and the supply of iron structures to the company Fanta & Jireš in Prague. The construction took place during the years 1910 - 1919; the long construction period was significantly influenced by World War I. In its time it was the largest reservoir in the Czechoslovak Republic in terms of volume of water held, and the longest dam in terms of the length of the brick dam. In the years 1920  -1923, Mr. J. V. Velflík’s company in Prague built a running hydroelectric power plant on the right bank under the dam. The technological part was supplied by the company Českomoravská-Kolben of Prague, and the electrical equipment by the company Křižík Praha. Since the year 1958 the dam, including the hydroelectric power plant, has been an immovable monument due to its architectonic uniqueness.