Baron George Haas

Georg Haas (1841-1914) was born as the son of the landowner and industrialist August Eusebius Haas (1804-1871). He studied chemistry at the Vienna Polytechnic, after finishing his studies he took over his father's porcelain factory in Horní Slavkov and together with his cousin Johann Baptist Cžjžek (Čížek) von Smidaich (1841-1925) owned the famous company Haas & Czjzek, founded in 1792. Their company became one of the largest porcelain factories in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the very first porcelain factory in the Czech Lands.

In 1899, Georg Haas was elevated to noble status with the predicate "Haas von Hasenfels" for his achievements in industry. In 1908, he was also elevated to the status of free lord. Georg Haas was the owner of the Kynšperk nad Ohří estates (district Sokolov), Mostov and from 1912 the South Moravian castle of Bítov. After his death, the estates were inherited by his son Georg (1876-1945), the famous founder of a private zoo in Bítov.

Large-scale industrialist George Haas from Hasenfels owned Mostov Castle as a family residence since 1886. George Haas owned shares in a porcelain factory in Slavkov and acquired a number of other properties after his marriage to Olga Dannenbergová, the daughter of a coking magnate from Královéc, Prussia. With Olga, he had one son, George Jr. After 10 years of procrastination, his efforts to obtain a noble title were successful. With the approval of Emperor Francis Joseph I, taking into account his business merits, he obtained the title of baron and family coat of arms in 1908, which cost him a large sum - 80 thousand guilders and a number of gifts of the court and the throne. Since a proper noble should also own a castle, Haas buys Bítov in 1912 (it lies above today's Vranovská dam in southern Moravia).

In 1914, Baron Haas dies and is buried in a tomb in his birthplace in nearby Kamenné Dvór (near Kynšperk). Olga and her son George acquire his property. Olga dies in 1942 at Mostovský château and, according to her will, she was buried in the tomb of to her husband. The Hass family was the last owner of the Mostovo estate.

George Haas Jr.'s parents did not make him the owner of the porcelain factory because of his extravagance, but they gave him a sufficient appanage. At the age of 35, young Haas moved to Bítov Castle, where he pursues his great passions. The first is his love for animals, for which he transformed the surroundings of the castle and the adjacent estate into a large zoo. He hated hunting and killing and was a model for today's conservationists. He kept 200 dogs in his kennels, owned noble horses and many rare animals, including the famous lioness Mietzi-Mausi (para. Baron's Zoo). The lioness he bred from her youth and his friendship with Mietzi was proved by lunches together with the lioness in the presence of frightened officials. His second passion is keeping numerous fraucimors - mistresses from the surrounding villages, mostly simple girls. He was the father of 15 children and appeared before the Cheb court several times to determine paternity .His records with the names of his mistresses and monetary gifts dedicated to them (Maitressenkont) have been preserved. George Haas Jr. lived in Bítov until 1945. After May 1945, he was invited by the partisans to leave the castle and go on foot to Austria at the age of 68. Haas couldn't take it and shot himself in the castle. They found him in the Hulan uniform in which he fought in the 1st St. war for the Emperor and was buried in the castle chapel in Bítov.

You can buy the book on the Haas-Czjzek website.