Czocha Castle (pronounced , german: Tzschocha, lat, Caychow) is a defensive castle in the village of Czocha ( Gmina Lesna),
Lubań County
__NOTOC__
Lubań County ( pl, powiat lubański) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gover ...
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. The castle is located on the
Lake Leśnia
Lake Leśnia (Polish ''Jezioro Leśniańskie'', German ''Marklissa-Talsperre'') is a small artificial lake, located on the Kwisa river, between towns of Leśna and Gryfow Slaski in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, southwestern Poland. It was opened o ...
, near the
Kwisa
The Kwisa (german: Queis, hsb, Hwizdź) is a river in south-western Poland, a left tributary of the Bóbr, which itself is a left tributary of the Oder river.
It rises in the Izera Mountains, part of the Western Sudetes range, where it runs al ...
river, in what is now the Polish part of
Upper Lusatia
Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...
. Czocha castle was built on
gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
rock, and its oldest part is the keep, to which housing structures were later added.
History
Czocha Castle began as a stronghold, on the Bohemian-Lusatian border. Its construction was ordered by Wenceslaus Iof Bohemia, in the middle of the 13th century (1241–1247). In 1253 castle was handed over to Konrad von Wallhausen,
Bishop of Meissen
The Bishop of Dresden-Meissen is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen in the Archdiocese of Berlin.
The diocese covers an area of and was erected as the Diocese of Meissen on 24 June 1921. The name was changed to Dre ...
. In 1319 the complex became part of the dukedom of
Henry I of Jawor
Henry I of Jawor ( pl, Henryk I. Jaworski; german: Heinrich I. von Jauer; – 15 May 1346), was a duke of Jawor-Lwówek-Świdnica- Ziębice during 1301–1312 (with his brothers as co-rulers), sole Duke of Jawor-Lwówek since 1312 and Duke of Gło ...
, and after his death, it was taken over by another Silesian prince,
Bolko II the Small
Bolko II the Small (c. 1312 – 28 July 1368), was the last independent Duke of the Piast dynasty in Silesia. He was Duke of Świdnica from 1326, Duke of Jawor and Lwówek from 1346, Duke of Lusatia from 1364, Duke over half of Brzeg and Oława ...
, and his wife Agnes (see
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia ( pl, Księstwo śląskie, german: Herzogtum Schlesien, cs, Slezské knížectví) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Pia ...
). Origin of the stone castle dates back to 1329.
In the mid-14th century, Czocha Castle was annexed by Charles IV,
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
and King of Bohemia. Then, between 1389 and 1453, it belonged to the noble families of von Dohn and von Kluks. Reinforced, the complex was besieged by the
Hussite
The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation.
The Huss ...
s in the early 15th century, who captured it in 1427, and remained in the castle for unknown time (see
Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...
). In 1453, the castle was purchased by the family of von Nostitz, who owned it for 250 years, making several changes through remodelling projects in 1525 and 1611. Czocha's walls were strengthened and reinforced, which thwarted a Swedish siege of the complex during the
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
. In 1703, the castle was purchased by Jan Hartwig von Uechtritz, influential courtier of
Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...
. On August 17, 1793, the whole complex burned in a fire.
In 1909, Czocha was bought by a cigar manufacturer from
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, Ernst Gutschow, who ordered major remodelling, carried out by Berlin architect
Bodo Ebhardt
Bodo Heinrich Justus Ebhardt (5 January 1865, Bremen – 13 February 1945 at Marksburg near Braubach) was a German architect, architectural historian, castle explorer, and founder and longtime president of the German Castles Association (''Deut ...
, based on a 1703 painting of the castle. Gutschow, who was close to the Russian Imperial Court and hosted several
White emigre
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
s in Czocha, lived in the castle until March 1945. Upon leaving, he packed up the most valuable possessions and moved them out.
After World War II, the castle was ransacked several times, both by soldiers of the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
, and Polish thieves, who came to the so-called
Recovered Territories
The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands ( pl, Ziemie Odzyskane), also known as Western Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Zachodnie), and previously as Western and Northern Territories ( pl, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne), Postulated Territories ( pl, Z ...
from central and
eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
part of the country. Pieces of furniture and other goods were stolen, and in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the castle was home to refugees from Greece (see
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...
). In 1952, Czocha was taken over by the
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...
. Used as a military vacation resort, it was erased from official maps. The castle has been open to the public since September 1996 as a hotel and conference centre.
The complex was featured in several movies and television series, including a popular 1963 comedy, ''Gdzie jest generał?'' (''Where is the General?''), ''Legenda'', ''
The Hexer (film)
''The Hexer'' or ''The Witcher'' ( Polish: ''Wiedźmin'') is a 2001 Polish fantasy film directed by Marek Brodzki and written by Michał Szczerbic. It stars Michał Żebrowski as Geralt of Rivia. The story is based on the books and stories o ...
'', ''
The Hexer (TV series)
''Wiedźmin'' (''The Hexer'' or ''The Witcher'' in English) is a Polish fantasy television series that aired in 2002.
The story is based on the stories of ''The Witcher'' fantasy series (''The Last Wish'' and '' Sword of Destiny'' collection ...
live action role-playing game
A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique feature ...
(LARP) that takes place in their own universe and can be compared to Harry Potter. There was a hiatus in 2019 after ongoing issues within its founding organization threatened to end the series. However, a crowdfunding action saved the LARP and a new organizing team has continued organizing events at the castle.
Gallery
File:Zamek czocha.jpg, Overview of the castle
File:CZOCHA142.jpg, Czocha Castle, view from the Kwisa river
File:Czocha(js)2a.jpg, The castle in winter
File:Bajkowy Zamek Czocha.jpg, Front view
File:Czocha, Poland - panoramio.jpg, The bridge
File:Zamek Czocha, budynek bramny i spichrz, widok od pd (2).JPG, The gate to the castle
File:Czocha Castle 07.jpg, Interior