Five Roses of the Vítkovci
The five colors – red, white, green, black and gold – commemorate the individual branches of the family that have shaped the history of South Bohemia for centuries. Each rose is an original designer piece of jewelry created from natural flowers using the technique of artistic electroforming and complemented by natural amber, symbolizing light, life and the legacy of the past. The exception is the golden rose, the center of which is decorated with a Bohemian garnet as a symbol of power, courage and noble dignity.
The collection was ceremonially presented at the Town Hall Gallery in Rožmberk nad Vltavou at the exhibition “Rožmberk – a city of hidden symbols”, where it first became part of the narrative about the history of the Vítkovci family and their legacy.
The Vítkovci roses are not just jewelry. They are a reminder of stories that have endured for centuries and are now blooming again in the form of an original work of art.
INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY
The founder of the Vítkovci family was Vítek I. from Prčice in the Sedlčany region, who came to South Bohemia in the 12th century. This nobleman held the important position of steward or food carrier to King Vladislav II. In South Bohemia, he gradually acquired considerable property, which he divided among his sons before his death (1194). This semi-mythical event is captured in the famous painting The Division of the Rose, a copy of which can be seen at the Krumlov Castle.
All of Vítek's sons were subsequently called Lords of the Rose, henceforth the Vítkovci, but at the same time they became the founders of their own lineages with the old title of lords:
- Vítek II. the elder, the firstborn son, received a green rose on a silver field in the coat of arms and became the ancestor of the Lords of Krumlov
- Jindřich, apparently the secondborn, received a coat of arms with a golden rose on a blue field and became the first Lord of Hradec
- Vítek III. the younger received a red rose on a silver field and founded the family of the Lords of Rožmberk
- Vítek IV. was the youngest son, who received a silver rose on a red field and whose descendants were called the Lords of Landštejn and Třeboň
- Sezema, a possible illegitimate son of Vítek, received a black rose on a gold field and founded Sezimovo Ústí according to legend
The coat of arms of the South Bohemian Rožmberk family was a symbol of a red five-petalled rose with a gold center on a silver field, because the lords of Rožmberk were one of the ancestral branches of the Vítkovci family. In 1556, Vilém of Rožmberk expanded the family coat of arms to include a gold crossbar with a black snake and alternating red and silver diagonal stripes in the lower part of the coat of arms, which was the symbol of the Italian princely house of Orsini, with which the Rožmberks were supposedly related. Two bears often appear as shield bearers, because orsa means she-bear in Italian. The coat of arms of the last Rožmberks were bears, which have been kept in the castle moat since the time of Vilém. 
The symbol of the Rožmberk lordship - the Rožmberk coat of arms, a red five-petaled rose - appears on the coats of arms of several places, usually between the city towers (Český Krumlov, Kaplice, Vyšší Brod), or on the depiction of the tower itself (Horní Dvořiště, Velešín). In Velešín, this rose is not red, but gold, it is a so-called improvement of the coat of arms over time, i.e. the color was replaced by metal. The red five-petaled rose, or part of it, occurs in combination with other motifs in the coats of arms of Horní Planá, Rožmitál na Šumavě and Rychnov nad Malší, we see it in Cetviny, Frymburk, Hořice na Šumavě and Rožmberk nad Vltavou. 