Bouzov Castle
Encyclopedia
Bouzov
Bouzov is a village and municipality in Olomouc District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 1,480 ....
, 21 km west of Litovel
Litovel
Litovel is a town in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 10,000 inhabitants. Litovel lies in Upper-Moravian Vale , 233 metres above the sea level. Thanks to its rich history Litovel has many historical monuments.-Demographics:Source: -Town Hall:The Town Hall lies on Přemysl...
and 28 km northwest of Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...
, in Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. The castle has been used in a number of film productions lately, including Arabela
Arabela (TV series)
Arabela is a television series for children produced for television in Czechoslovakia between 1979 and 1981. The series had 13 episodes and was in the Czech language. Its plot revolved around the members of a regular Czech family, who encounter people who came from the Kingdom of Fairy Tales...
, Fantaghirò
Fantaghirò
Fantaghirò is a fantasy television film produced by Reteitalia, directed by Lamberto Bava and starring Alessandra Martines. It originally aired in 1991 as a two-parter, and hence has been known in certain video releases and airings as double-set of Fantaghirò 1 and Fantaghirò 2. It is the first...
, and Before the Fall
Before the Fall
Before the Fall is a 2004 German drama film written and directed by Dennis Gansel.-Plot:...
.
Owners
Bouzov was established at the turn of the 14th century with the purpose to watch over the trade route from Olomouc to LošticeLoštice
Loštice is a town in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 3,100 inhabitants.Village Žádlovice is an administrative part of Loštice.Loštice's well known product is traditional cheese, called tvarůžek or syreček-External links:...
. The minor aristocratic Bůz of Bludovec family were its first recorded owners from 1317-1339. The castle also takes its name from the family. Ownership of the castles was then changed, and the Lords of Kunštát
Kunštát Castle
The Kunštát Castle is a national monument in Kunštát, Czech Republic.The Kunštát castle is located in the place of the Kunštát fortress, mentioned as early as in 1380.In 1448 it became the property of king George of Poděbrady.-References:...
were among the most important medieval owners. According to tradition, the Bouzov castle is often connected with name of the most famous member of this noble dynasty, Jiří z Poděbrady
George of Podebrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady , also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad , was King of Bohemia...
was born in Bouzov in 1420 and was crowned Czech King in 1458. His original title was Jiří of Kunštát and Bouzov. In 1558 the castle burned down, and lost much of its majestic quality. In the course of centuries there were several changes of proprietors; the castle was owned by the lords of Vildenberk, margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
Jošt, the Haugvic and the Pod Štatský families, and in 1696 the barony was bought by the grand master of the Teutonic Order, the Rhenish
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
palsgrave Fanciscus Ludovicus.
Vildenberks period
As various noble families changed possession of Bouzov, in a similar way also its appearance was changed from an early gothic castle to a RenaisssanceRenaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
style. In the time of the lords of Bouzov, the castle played mostly a defensive and guarding role. It probably consisted of a tower
Tower
A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....
and rampart
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
and wooden dwelling houses. The Vildenberks built a stony manor
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
on the western side which was taller than the rampart. Already in the 14th century the castle was significantly widened - a settlement with outhouses was constructed with a ditch and circumvallation, rampart with a 200-foot-high (61 m tall) watchtower and a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
wall built around the castle. During the rule of the Kunštát family, the manor was fortified with a new connected rampart with two bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s, and the moat wall was rebuilt with five round bastions. Later a round gun-bastion was erected and the tallest watchtower was repaired.
From the 15th to 19th century
In 1408 the castle passed into the hands of Viktorin of Bouzov. In 1499 the Haugvics started the construction of a palace on the eastern side and connected the northern and southern dwelling building. In the first half of the 15th century t was converted into a Hussite stronghold, serving as a prison for captured Swedes during the Thirty Years war. In the second half of the 16th century the castle burned out and remained uninhabited.About a hundred years later, the reconstruction of the castle began again with the remodeling of the southern wing. At that time the castle had already lost its defensive function and became an utterly dwelling object. With the arrival of the Teutonic Order, during the 18th century the castle also lost this function. Only the building in the outer settlement remained inhabited, and by the end of the 19th century the ruin of the castle became a tourist goal.
Habsburgs period
The castle gained today's appearance after massive Neo-gothic reconstruction between 1895 and 1910. The Grand Master of the Order of the Teutonic KnightsTeutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
from 1799 to 1939, archduke
Archduke
The title of Archduke denotes a noble rank above Duke and below King, used only by princes of the Houses of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine....
Eugen Habsburg
Archduke Eugen of Austria
Archduke Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria of Austria-Teschen was an Archduke of Austria and a Prince of Hungary and Bohemia...
, decided to rebuilt it in the Romantic, predoninantly Neo-Gothic style, according to the plans of the prominent architects of its time Georg von Hauberisser (1841–1922) of the Munich Polytechnic University
Technical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
; he was the author of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and Saarbrücken's town-halls, and also very influential as builder of churches like the St. Paul's church in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. The alterations were carried out with the intention of making part of the castle open to the public. Bouzov was fitted with modern furnishings and equipment, including running water and central heating. The order was abolished in 1939 and the castle was confiscated by the fascists, occupied and looted by the Nazis during the WW II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The castle was acquired by the Chief of the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
R. Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, who forced the Strahov Monastery
Strahov Monastery
Strahov Monastery is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1149 by Bishop Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Prince Vladislav II. It is located in Strahov, Prague, Czech Republic.-The founding of a monastery:...
to sell it to him for one million crowns, as a present to A. Hitler. Hauberrisser's reconstruction of the Bouzov castle is unique in the was given tocontext of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an romantic architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. After 1989 the Order of Teutonic Knights expressed an interest in the castle, but their request to have it returned to them has so far been rejected.
Description
An eight-storey watchtower, 58 meters high, dominates the complex. The buildings are grouped around it in the form of a horseshoe, and the castle is enhanced by a number of towers, and among other things, bastions, battlements, oriel windows and loopholes. The two long bridges, ending with a short drawbridgeDrawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
, span the deep dry moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
around the castle. The knights' hall, armoury
Armory (military)
An armory or armoury is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
, which is in one of the few original rooms with preserved Gothic vaulting, bedrooms of the knights and a neo-gothic chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
with its Gothic altar and tombs occupy the central part of the castle. The valuable furniture comes from the private collection of Eugen von Habsburg and the collection of the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Since 1999 the castle has been a national monument.