Březnice Castle
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Březnice Castle is located in Březnice (German: Bresnitz ) in the Central Bohemian Region , Czech Republic.
history
The Lords of Buzic, who later called themselves von Bresnitz, built a castle in the early 13th century, consisting of a keep (today's gate tower) and an oval ring wall with smaller inner buildings. Via the Puta von Skala and Huler von Worlik family, the property came into the hands of Peter Zmrzlík von Schweißing through purchase in 1415 . He was a Bohemian mint master and sympathizer of Johannes Hus . In 1422 the castle was therefore stormed and burned down by Catholic troops. In 1506 it was bought by Zdenek Malowetz von Kinau, who provided it with an outer ring and a moat. His son Peter took part in an aristocratic revolt against King Ferdinand I in 1547 , after which the rule was confiscated and subsequently sold to Jiří z Lokšan (Georg von Lokšan) in 1548.
Lokšan was secretary in court services, Bohemian vice chancellor, councilor and imperial governor. Inspired by his travels in Italy, he called Milanese builders to beautify the city and castle in the Renaissance style. Even today one of the old districts of Březnice is popularly called Medulan , in a corruption of the Latin Mediolanum (for Milan). Between 1548 and 1600 the castle was expanded with new components and decorated in a new style. The widow, sons and grandsons of Lokšan also continued to work on the representative design. The ring building with inner courtyard was created and the picturesque sgraffito plaster was applied. In 1557 Katharina von Lokšan made the secret wedding of her niece Philippine Welser possible here with the Bohemian governor Archduke Ferdinand , who later became Prince of Tyrol. Philippine took up her first residence here and her children were allegedly foundlings in front of the castle portal.
The Lokšan later became Protestant and took part in the class uprising in Bohemia (1618) , after the Battle of White Mountain Adam von Lokšan fled the country with the Winter King , Wenceslas Baron von Lokšan was expropriated, and the Březnice Castle was devastated by Bavarian troops. The Bohemian Chamber sold the rule in 1623 to Přibík Jeníšek von Újezd, who restored the castle, grinded the entrenchments, built the Catholic castle chapel from 1625–32 and established a Jesuit college in the town . He took part as procurator in the trials against the insurgents, as a result of which on June 21, 1621 27 of them were executed in front of the Old Town Hall in Prague . Jeníšek had the event recorded in a picture that is still preserved in the castle.
In 1728 the castle fell to the Kolowrat -Krakowsky counts after the barons Jeníšek von Újezd died out. Count Jan Nepomuk Karel von Kolowrat-Krakovský (called Hanusch Kolowrat) promoted the national Czech movement and made large donations for the construction of the National Museum and the National Theater in Prague. In Březnice he was captain of a national guard in 1848 , as evidenced by a flag in the castle. His nephew Count Eduard Pálffy von Erdöd inherited the property in 1872, which remained in the family's possession until Count Johann Pálffy was expropriated by the Beneš decrees in 1945. By demolishing some buildings, adding the wall with the bastion and a renewed sgraffito plaster, they shaped the current shape of the building.
In 1966 the Central Bohemian Monuments Office initiated a comprehensive renovation of the castle and subsequently opened it as a museum. Today the castle is owned by the National Monument Office. The external appearance has not changed significantly since the first half of the 17th century and thanks to the fact that no looting took place, the interior is largely intact.
inside rooms
A specialty of the castle is the Lokšan library (Czech: Lokšanská knihovna ) with a painted beamed ceiling. It is the oldest chateau library in Bohemia , which has been preserved in its state from 1558. Also noteworthy is the chapel of the Virgin Mary in the early Baroque style , with rococo furnishings and coffered ceiling , which was built by Carlo Lurago . Pictures from the family gallery and a small collection of weapons are also on display. Other interesting spaces are the African drawing room , the Renaissance dining room and the Ludvík Kuba gallery . The castle has a 20 hectare large English park .
literature
- Zdeněk Fiala [et al.]: Hrady, zámky a tvrze v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku. Jižní Čechy. Nakladatelství Svoboda, Prague 1986. p. 30.
- Konrad Fries: Bresnitz Castle in Bohemia. In: ARX. Castles and palaces in Bavaria, Austria and South Tyrol. Vol. 39, No. 2, 2017, ISSN 0394-0624 , pp. 51-56.
Web links
- Castle website (Czech, German)
- Březnice Castle: When Archduke Ferdinand married the beautiful Philippine on Radio Praha on April 29, 2011
Footnotes
- ↑ Castle history on zamek-breznice.cz ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 49 ° 33 '27.2 " N , 13 ° 57' 21.8" E