Hauenštejn (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

var.: ''Horní hrad''; german: Hauenstein) is a medieval castle in the Czech Republic. The castle is the private property of Pavel Palacký, a descendant of

František Palacký František Palacký (; June 17, 1798 – May 26, 1876) was a Czech historian and politician, the most influential person of the Czech National Revival, called "Father of the Nation". Life František Palacký was born on June 17, 1798 at Hodslavi ...

. It is situated in the Ore Mountains in the territory of Krásný Les.

History

The castle was built in the 13th century by King

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...

or his son

Wenceslaus II Wenceslaus II Přemyslid ( cs, Václav II.; pl, Wacław II Czeski; 27 SeptemberK. Charvátová, ''Václav II. Král český a polský'', Prague 2007, p. 18. 1271 – 21 June 1305) was King of Bohemia (1278–1305), Duke of Cracow (1291–1 ...

to guard royal paths and local mines. The first known owner was Mikuláš Winkler,

burgrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from german: Burggraf, la, burgravius, burggravius, burcgravius, burgicomes, also praefectus), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especia ...

Loket Castle Loket Castle ( cs, Hrad Loket, german: Burg Elbogen) is a 12th-century Gothic architecture, Gothic style castle about from Karlovy Vary on a massive rock in the town of Loket (Sokolov District), Loket, Karlovy Vary Region, Karlovarský kraj, Czec ...

, who sold Hauenštejn to the monastery in

Doksany Doksany (german: Doxan) is a municipality and village in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants. History The oldest settlement dates back between 4500 and 2500 BC. In 1993, arc ...

. The monastery exchanged it for another building with King John of Bohemia. His son Charles IV enlarged the castle‘s domain. The castle frequently changed its keepers in the second half of the 14th century and the 15th century but it more or less remained royal property.''Stručná historie a stavební vývoj hradu a zámku'' The rich family of Šlik that started silver mining near

Jáchymov Jáchymov (); german: Sankt Joachimsthal or ''Joachimsthal'') is a spa town in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,300 inhabitants. The historical core of the town from the 16th century is we ...

won the castle in the 16th century. The Šliks rebuilt the castle in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

style after a fire in 1600. In 1663, the Šliks sold the castle to the

Saxe-Lauenburg The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg, called ''Niedersachsen'' (Lower Saxony) between the 14th and 17th centuries), was a ''reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296–1803 and again from 1814–1876 in the extreme sou ...

ducal family and it became part of the Ostrov domain. The castle was in the hands of the Baden family from 1689. When the last male member of the family died in 1771, the property of the Badens in Bohemia was inherited by the royal family of Maria Theresa. The Habsburgs sold it to the Buquoy family in 1837. Countess Gabrielle Buquoy started to rebuild the castle in a Romantic style. Ferdinand Buquoy continued the reconstruction under the influence of

historism Historism (Italian: ''storicismo'') is a philosophical and historiographical theory, founded in 19th-century Germany (as ''Historismus'') and especially influential in 19th- and 20th-century Europe. In those times there was not a single natural, hu ...

, taking its examples from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, Arundel, Belvoir, Lancaster or

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

( Hohenswangau, Lahneck).

20th century

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

it was used by the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

and it was also used for snake experiments – a snake from the genus of '' Coluber'' was set in the location to fight the adder and a kind of serum was developed there that

Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

used in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. After the war, it was confiscated by the state and the communists made it an accommodation for the

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

miners in Jáchymov, and then for a youth organisation. In 1958, it was condemned as not suitable for living and closed up. From that time onwards, it was constantly being ruined, partly by time, partly by

vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

Present

In 2000 Pavel Palacký, a descendant of Czech historian

, bought the castle from the village of Krásný Les and started with its sanitation.

References

External links

Hrad Hauenštejn – Horní hrad na Krusnohorsky.cz

Homepage of the castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauenstejn Karlovy Vary District Castles in the Karlovy Vary Region Tourist attractions in the Karlovy Vary Region