Rožmberk Castle
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Rožmberk (German: original Rosenberg) is a castle situated in South Bohemia near Rožmberk nad Vltavou in the Czech Republic. It is the oldest seat of the House of Rožmberk, a historical Czech aristocratic family. It was mentioned for the first time in 1253 in a document signed by Vok "von Rosenberg".
The Gothic fortress was changed during the Renaissance era and then in the 19th century within the "Tudor Gothic Passion" period. The last owners of the castle, the Buqouy family (who were Czech nobles of French origin), transformed it into a museum open to the public, one of the first museums in the Bohemian land. The main palace, with its architectural features of several historic styles, shelters a unique collection of Baroque furniture and paintings as well as a wonderful Renaissance Hall with a famous "musical niche" and original wall decorations. The armoury contains valuable weapons, armour, and heraldic emblems. The picture gallery is full of remarkable paintings dating as far back as the Renaissance era. The Rožmberk heritage has been guarded for hundreds of years by kind Perchta of Rožmberk, the White Lady.
[edit] History
The Rožmberk castle was founded in the first half of the 13th century by Vok of Prčice, a member of the powerful Vítkovci family (Witikonides in Latin; Witigonen in German), who later styled himself Vok of Rožmberk (Vok de Rosenberch) after this castle. Within a short time, a tributary town grew in the barbican. The castle became the administrative and economic centre of the family's lands, a part of which Vok gave to the newly established Cistercian monastery in Vyšší Brod. In 1302, when the cadet Krumlov branch of the Vítkovci died out, Vok's offspring inherited Český Krumlov and they settled there permanently.
In 1420 Oldřich II of Rožmberk (1403–1462) was forced to pawn the castle to the Lords of Walsee from Austria to get money to finance the army he was fielding against the Hussites. Oldřich was father of Perchta ("the White Lady"). The loan was paid off but in 1465 the castle was pawned again to the Lobkovic family. This loan too was paid off.
In 1600 Petr Vok of Rožmberk bequeathed the castle and its estates to his nephew Johann Zrinski of Seryn (1565–1612), son to Nikola Šubić Zrinski. Zrinski rebuilt the castle in Renaissance style. When he died in 1612, the estates were inherited by the Švamberks, relatives of the Rožmberks. But they soon lost the castle because all their estates were confiscated after the Battle of White Mountain and were given to the commander of the Imperial army, Karel Bonaventura Buquoy. The Buquoys, whose main residence was in Nové Hrady, kept the castle until 1945, when it was nationalised after the end of World War II.
The castle was opened to the public in the middle of the 19th century as one of the first museums in Bohemia. The Rožmberk tradition is represented by the Renaissance graffito decoration of the outside facades and beautiful painted decorations of the interiors (especially the famous music niche in the so-called Knight's Hall). Neither the style nor the furniture of the castle have been changed since its reconstruction in the Romantic style was completed. The interiors, mostly renovated in the Neo-Gothic style, are furnished with valuable pieces of furniture, some of which feature custom wood carvings commissioned for the museum. The castle picture gallery contains several valuable Czech and European paintings from artists of the Late Renaissance and Baroque eras, such as Bartholomeus Spranger, Karel Škréta, Jan Kupecký, and Norbert Grund. The armoury has a unique collection of stabbing and cutting weapons, firearms, and war relics.
[edit] Miscellaneous
The mysterious painting of Perchta, the White Lady of Rožmberk, is one of the most famous benign ghosts in Bohemia. She has supposedly appeared several times during the centuries since her death. A local tradition is that if you understand what is written on the picture in secret signs you can release her and find a silver treasure.
The bronze elephant sculpture in the courtyard is a copy made in 2003. The original elephant from 1916 was stolen by Nazis and was lost for 50 years standing here in the yard. The owners found it and it was given back to them to make amends for the Holocaust. Now the elephant is back home in Switzerland and the copy is here to delight visitors, who gently touch it.
The message "Loves disappear, colours fade" was discovered in 2004 carved on a wall in the Knight's Hall. This was done by Spanish soldiers in the 17th century.
