Šaunštejn Castle (German: ''Schauenstein'', also ''Hohenleipaer Raubschloss'') is a rock castle near

Vysoká Lípa Vysoká may refer to places: Czech Republic *Vysoká (Bruntál District), a municipality and village in the Moravian-Silesian Region *Vysoká (Havlíčkův Brod District), a municipality and village in the Vysočina Region *Vysoká (Hostýn-Vset� ...

(''Hohenleipa'') in the

Bohemian Switzerland Bohemian Switzerland (; ), also known as Czech Switzerland, is a nature region in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in the northwestern Czech Republic, protected as a national park. It has been a protected area (as Elbe Sandstone Mountains Protected ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Today only a few ruins remain of the original castle. Preserved are the foundations of the wooden superstructure, several rooms that were chiselled-out of the rock and the

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

History

The castle was built by the

Berka of Dubá Berka of Dubá () was a cadet branch of a Bohemian noble family of Lords of Dubá established by Hynek Berka of Dubá (1249–1306). It held estates in what is today the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany throughout the Middle Ages. Ancestors ...

family from

Lípa Lipa or LIPA (Cyrillic: Липа) may refer to: Acronym *Liquid Isopropyl alcohol * League for Independent Political Action, a former American progressive political organization *Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, a performing arts school i ...

in the 14th century to protect the Old Bohemian Road (''Alte Böhmerstraße''), the trade route from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

. From 1435 it belonged to the Wartenbergs who used it as a base for raids. In the 15th century it was besieged several times by the Wettins and the

Lusatian League The Lusatian League () was a historical alliance of six towns in the region of Upper Lusatia from 1346 until 1815, when the region was controlled first by Bohemia (1346–1635) and later by the Electorate of Saxony (1635–1815). The member towns ...

and finally destroyed.

Views

In clear weather the view extends from the Kaltenberg, the

Lausche Lausche () is the highest peak of the Lusatian Mountains and the highest mountain in the Germany, German part of the Upper Lusatia region at . The Conical hill, conical mountain is part of the Zittau Mountains range, situated on the border of th ...

, the Rosenberg, over the Hoher Schneeberg to the

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

Sources

* Richard Klos: ''Die sechs Felsenburgen in der Böhmischen Schweiz''. In: Sächsische Heimatblätter Heft 3/1968, pp. 97–103

External links

Website for Šaunštejn Castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunstejn Castle Bohemian Switzerland Rock formations of the Czech Republic Děčín District Rock castles Castles in the Ústí nad Labem Region Tourist attractions in the Ústí nad Labem Region Ruined castles in the Czech Republic

History

Views

See also

Sources

External links