Poděbrady Castle () is a castle in the town of

Poděbrady Poděbrady (; ) is a spa town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Elbe River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

History

A wooden

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

originally stood at the site of the present castle. King

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II (; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Austria, 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 death in 1278 ...

replaced it by a stone castle, which became the seat of the Lordship of Poděbrady. King

John of Bohemia John of Bohemia, also called the Blind or of Luxembourg (; ; ; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He is well known for having died while fighting ...

pledged the Lordship and the Castle to Hynek of Lichtenburg in 1345. When in 1350, Hynek's daughter Eliška married Boček I of Poděbrady (d. 1373), the castle came into the possession of the Kunštát family. After Emperor Charles IV gave Poděbrady to Boček as a hereditary possession, Boček called himself ''Boček of Poděbrady'', thereby founding the Poděbrady line of the Kunštát family. According to legend, King

George of Poděbrady George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad (; ), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the Hussites, but moderate and tolerant toward the ...

, Boček's great-grandson, was born in the castle. After George's death in 1471, the Castle and Lordship of Poděbrady were inherited by his son,

Henry the Younger of Poděbrady Henry the Younger of Poděbrady (also: ''Henry the Younger of Münsterberg''; or ; or ; 18 May 1452 – 1 July 1492) was an Imperial Count and Count of Glatz. From 1462 to 1471, he served as Duke of Münsterberg jointly with his older brothers ...

, whose heirs had to transfer ownership of both the castle and the lordship to King Vladislaus II in 1495. Both were pledged several times before the loan was repaid by King Ferdinand I. They remained in the possession of the

Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods with feudal obligations to the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electorate of the Hol ...

until 1839. The castle was rebuilt several times. Between 1548 and 1580, it was reconstructed to a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style, after a design by

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

and Ulrico Aostalli and Hans Vienna. After the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, the castle lost most of its importance. In 1723 and 1724, it was reconstructed in a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style under the direction of the builder Franz Maximilian Kanka. Further modifications were made after 1750.

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

, in her capacity as Queen of Bohemia, stayed at the castle on several occasions. Under her son

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

, the castle was the residence of retired Imperial Army officers. In 1839, the Crown sold the Castle and the Lordship to the Viennese banker Georg Simon Sina (1783–1856). Through marriage, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Ypsilanti in 1884.

References

* Joachim Bahlcke ''et al''.: ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten — Böhmen und Mähren'', Stuttgart, 1998, , p. 459–461.

External links

hrady.cz: Poděbrady zámek (in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podebrady Castle Podiebrad family Castles in the Central Bohemian Region Nymburk District