Josefuv Dul: Hotels and Accommodation

Josefův Důl lies in a bend of the Jizera River. The built-up area is surrounded by green spaces and small wooded areas on the adjacent slopes.

Culture and History

The château in Josefův Důl is a representative Neorenaissance building with a Baroque core. It was built after 1860, presumably to a design by Ludwig Zettl, and served as the Leitenberger family’s preferred summer residence. The château park featured allegories of the four seasons by Prague sculptor Tomáš Seidan.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross, with the Leitenberger family crypt, was built in 1880 to a design by Ludwig Zettl. The Leitenberger crypt is empty because the family’s mortal remains were transferred to Austria in the 1980s. The Neo-Gothic chapel of the Leitenberger crypt lies southeast of the villa in an elevated position and offers a view of the former calico factory site.

The main façade of the Leitenberger Villa opens onto a landscaped park that separates the building from the factory site and workers’ settlement. Eduard Petzold designed the park of the Leitenberger Villa.

Industrial History

The local textile industry was established in 1763 through the relocation of a manufactory from Kosmonosy and reached its greatest prosperity under the leadership of the Leitenberger family. In 1868, textile production ended in Kosmonosy; all operations were relocated to Josefův Důl. The settlement of Josefův Důl was established as a workers’ settlement for the former textile factory.

The small hydroelectric power plant in Josefův Důl was commissioned in the first half of the 1940s and later served the TIBA textile company. To this day, it is equipped with its two original vertical Kaplan turbines from 1942. The reinforced-concrete bridge over the weir of the small hydroelectric power plant to the machine houses was closed to the public around 2006 for safety reasons.

Routes and Activities

The Leitenberger crypt lies in a green area above Josefův Důl, along a hiking trail. The “Údolím řeky Jizery k romantické zřícenině” route leads from Mladá Boleslav via Debř and Josefův Důl to Láskov and back to Mladá Boleslav via Debř.

The Golden Trail of the Bohemian Paradise follows a 25 km route from Mladá Boleslav via Michalovice, Josefův Důl, Bakov nad Jizerou, Klokočka and Klášter Hradiště nad Jizerou to Mnichovo Hradiště.

The SK Josefův Důl sports complex offers football, tennis, foot tennis, volleyball, basketball and a children’s playground.

Other Places

Other places: Chudíř, Charvatce, Strenice, Žehrov, Vrátno, Kosořice, Loukov, Klášter Hradiště Nad Jizerou

To the higher-level travel overview: Mladá Boleslav District.