Veveří Castle
Veveří Castle | |
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Location | Brno (formerly Veverská Bítýška) |
Coordinates | 49°15′24″N 16°27′42″E / 49.25667°N 16.46167°E |
Built | 1213–22 |
Veveří (
History
11th to 15th centuries
According to legend, the castle Veveří (literally "
King
The castle was a military-civic centre around a manor until the
At the end of the 15th century, Václav of Ludanice acquired the castle and became the first representative of his noble family which resided here. But his mismanagement of expenses and debts resulted in the family's eventual sale of manor.
Early Modern period
During the years 1531–1537,
In 1609, Zikmund von Tiefenbach acquired the castle by marriage.
In 1645, the Swedish Army laid siege to Veveří Castle, but their attack was unsuccessful, as the castle was well guarded and the defenders well armed. In 1653, Maria Eva Alžběta of the Sternberg family (Rudolf of Tiefenbach's dowager) inherited the castle. In 1668, Václav Michal of Althan bought the castle and resided there until 1670.
At the end of the 17th century, compound belonged to the
19th and early 20th centuries
At the beginning of the 19th century, an industrial magnate, Vilém Mundy, purchased the castle. Although he had earlier arrived in the area as a simple wayfaring traveler, he achieved prominence and wealth after establishing a cloth factory in 1780 and then successfully managing his trade. In essence, he worked his way up until he could own Veveří Castle.
In 1830, a Swedish émigré, Prince
In 1881, the castle had a new owner, Baron Maurice de Hirsch. During this period, he had extensive repairs and renovations completed, including a new iron water supply, roofs, and telephone connections to Obora and the manor house in the nearby town of Rosice. The castle chapel was removed in the process.[citation needed] He died in Hungary in 1896, at the age of 64. His widow Clara de Hirsch died three years later, on 1 April 1899.
At that point,
WWII and after
During World War II, the castle was occupied by the Wehrmacht (Germans set up barracks), and during this period area was extensively damaged, including shooting damage to the second floor of the so-called palace. After 1945, a permanent exposition was set up on the site. Although never refurbished to pre-war quality, the castle was still open to the public. In the 1950s, the castle was closed to the public and a school of forestry took over, doing additional damage. Starting in 1972, there was a disastrous project to turn the castle into an international conference center, which fortunately was only partly realized and stopped before more damage to the castl'e historical and artistic value could be done. After the political changes in 1989 the castle continued being neglected.
In 1994, Veveří Castle was again opened to the public, but in 1999, it was abruptly closed and allowed to fall into a state of disrepair during lengthy "property transfers". After several unsuccessful attempts to rent the castle for commercial use, the castle passed in September 1999 from the management of the Ministry of Education under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and joined the portfolio of historic buildings managed by the National Heritage Institute in Brno. Thanks to the program to protect the architectural heritage of the Ministry of Culture and extraordinary subsidies from the state budget of the city of Brno, the South Moravian Region, and voluntary collections, the worst emergency conditions were stabilized and a number of noteworthy renovations and reconstructions carried out, primarily of the palace. These renovations included a large-scale rebuilding of the "loft" above the palace, and the great dining room with its notable frescoes. Since 2002, the castle is again open to the public, including guided tours of the palace. The complete restoration of all buildings, furniture, courtyards and parks will take many years.
Description
The castle is usually entered via the so-called Southern Gate. This originally Gothic gate was rebuilt in the late
Leading from the Southern Gate to the palace is the castle bridge, mentioned as one of the first
From the bridge one proceeds through a passage through the palace with keep. On the left is the so-called Black Kitchen, recently restored, where several ovens and a dish-washing basin have been preserved. The keep around which the palace is built is the tallest and oldest of the ten currently visible towers of Veveří Castle, built in the early 13th century as the primary deense element of the oldest building stage of the castle. The palace is the main residential castle building, created by connecting the keep and two medieval palaces.
The former Gothic chapel of St. Procopius in the palace, which originally extended vertically from the ground floor to the second, was replaced in the late 19th century with separate spaces on the ground floor and a library and administrative spaces on the second floor. A preliminary plan has been developed for the reconstruction of the chapel.
Beyond the palace one proceeds through a courtyard, which was created in the early 19th century by pulling down two 13th-century royal palaces. Luckily, records remain of the appearance of these palaces. Beyond the courtyard lies the so-called English Wing, constructed in the second half of the 17th century in the corridor between the Gothic calls. The ground floor served to park horse carriages, while the first floor was used as an armory and later as a granary. The building stands in need of extensive and costly renovation. Yet further along is found the so-called Backyard Palace, erected in the 17th century with two vaulted rooms, one above the other. The renovation plans call for it to be made into a space for cultural events.
At the southeastern corner of the castle stands the so-called Eastern Prismatic Tower, built in the 14th century to protect the castle area from the east. South of this tower archaeological remains have been uncovered of walls of a medieval Eastern Castle Palace, which probably dates from the late 15th century and was pulled down before the mid-17th century.
Notable people
- Vladislaus III, Duke of Bohemia - Duke
- Conrad II, Duke of Bohemia - Duke
- Ottokar II of Bohemia - King
- Blanche of Valois - margraves consort
- Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor - European monarch
- John Henry, Margrave of Moravia - moravian monarch
- Jobst of Moravia, King of Germany - European and moravian monarch
- Master of Vyšší Brod - medieval painter
- Parler - architect and sculptor
- Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden- King in exile
- childhood)
- Gustav, Prince of Vasa - crown prince in exile
- Georgios Sinas - banker
- Winston Churchill - politician
- Clementine Churchill
Gallery
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Veveří Castle, eastern part. The oldestdonjon, keep and turret
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Keep (in oldest part) view from inner space of the Castle
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Lower (the oldest) part of the castle, palace around thedonjon
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The main palace around the original donjon, view from the ward
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Aerial view from hot air balloon - to the nord
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The westernhorse stablehouse from inside
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The brattice in western wall
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The castle's western wall (enceinte)
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Imperial imprint - the Stabile cadastral map
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Drone flight alongside the castle
References
- ^ a b Emmelie de Forest is NOT a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria , royalmusings, February 18, 2013
Further reading
- Castle Veveří-Eichorn, Vol. I, Brno, ITEM 2005, ISBN 80-902297-7-8/Jiří Procházka/
External links
- Official website
- Hrad Veveří (in Czech)