Karlštejn

Karlstejn Castle

The Karlstejn Castle ( German Karl Stone ) is located about 30 km southwest of Prague in the Czech Republic in the town of Karlstejn. It was built by Emperor Charles IV and housed approximately 1350 to 1421 the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire.

History

The Karlstejn Castle was founded in 1348 by Charles IV after he was first elected Roman - German king ( crowned emperor was only completed in 1355 ).

It was as a treasury of the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire and the vast collection of relics of Emperor Charles IV. Until the main walls were, passed ten years the construction of the Chapel of the Holy Cross lasted until 1365th The exterior walls should the conquest failed attempts, yet the imperial regalia were evacuated during the Hussite wars around 1421 and spent over Hungary to Nuremberg.

The first probation was the castle in 1422, when the Prague fraction of the Hussites besieged it unsuccessfully. From 1498 to 1526 was Zdeniek Lev of Rosental first to the viscount, then appointed Colonel Viscount. End of the 16th century, the exterior walls were again mounted and renewed by order of the Emperor Rudolf II. 1619 the remaining Czech crown treasures were brought to the Archives to Prague. 1620 gave the crew the castle without a fight, to Ferdinand II and in 1648 it was conquered by Sweden. The castle fell slowly. Emperor Francis II and his son Ferdinand left the mid-19th century to renovate the castle.

The present appearance of the castle took following the modifications, which lasted from 1887 to 1899. The plans were drawn by architect Friedrich von Schmidt, but were then changed by Josef Mocker, who had the superintendence of the reconstruction.

The nearby villages Budňany and Poučník 1952 were summarized to community Karlstejn.

Description of the castle

The individual parts of the castle are located at different heights in order to clarify the meaning. Landmark of the castle is the Great Tower, the floor plan of the sides 25 and 17 meters long. The wall is four feet thick, the northern side of seven meters. Main building is the Chapel of the Holy Cross. The Gothic ceiling of the chapel dates from the court painter of Charles IV, Master Theodoric. The paintings represent the " heavenly army " dar.

The castle has no natural fountains. Miners from Kutná Hora teuften a shaft to 80 feet, but not came across water. Because of this was the supply of water from a nearby creek into a cistern. This weakness in case of siege was kept secret.