Poděbrady Castle ( cs, Zámek Poděbrady) is a castle in the town of Poděbrady in the Czech Republic.

History

A wooden

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

originally stood at the site of the present castle. King Ottokar II of Bohemia replaced it by a stone castle, which became the seat of the Lordship of Poděbrady. King

John of Bohemia John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of ...

pledged the Lordship and the Castle to Hynek of Lichtenburg in 1345. When in 1350, Hynek's daughter Eliška married Boček I of Poděbrady (d. 1373), the castle came into the possession of the Kunštát family. After Emperor Charles IV gave Poděbrady to Boček as a hereditary possession, Boček called himself ''Boček of Poděbrady'', thereby founding the Poděbrady line of the Kunštát family. According to legend, King George of Poděbrady, Boček's grandson, was born in the castle. After George's death in 1471, the Castle and Lordship of Poděbrady were inherited by his son, Henry the Younger of Poděbrady, whose heirs had to transfer ownership of both the castle and the lordship to King Vladislaus II in 1495. Both were pledged several times before the loan was repaid by King

Ferdinand I Ferdinand I or Fernando I may refer to: People * Ferdinand I of León, ''the Great'' (ca. 1000–1065, king from 1037) * Ferdinand I of Portugal and the Algarve, ''the Handsome'' (1345–1383, king from 1367) * Ferdinand I of Aragon and Sicily, '' ...

. They remained in the possession of the

Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bo ...

until 1839. The castle was rebuilt several times. Between 1548 and 1580, it was reconstructed to a Renaissance style, after a design by Giovanni and Ulrico Aostalli and

Hans Vienna Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

. After the Thirty Years' War, the castle lost most of its importance. In 1723 and 1724, it was reconstructed in a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style under the direction of the builder

Franz Maximilian Kanka Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

. Further modifications were made after 1750.

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

, in her capacity as Queen of Bohemia, stayed at the castle on several occasions. Under her son Joseph II, the castle was the residence of retired Imperial Army officers. In 1839, the Crown sold the Castle and the Lordship to the Viennese banker

Georg Simon Sina Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * G ...

(1783–1856). Through marriage, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Ypsilanti in 1884.

References

* Joachim Bahlcke ''et al''.: ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten — Böhmen und Mähren'', Stuttgart, 1998, , p. 459–461.

External links

hrady.cz: Poděbrady zámek (in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podebrady Castle Podiebrad family Castles in the Central Bohemian Region Nymburk District