The Będzin Castle is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Będzin Będzin (; also seen spelled ''Bendzin''; ) is a city in the Dąbrowa Basin, in southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza River (a tributary of the Vistula River, Vistula). Even though part of Silesian Voivodeship ...

in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The stone castle dates to the 14th century, and is predated by a wooden fortification that was erected in the 11th century. It was an important fortification in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

and later, the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

History

The village of

originated in the 9th century.Zamek gotycki z XIV wieku w Będzinie
. Retrieved on 19 July 2007. The local wooden fort, that the records show existed as early as the 11th century,
Retrieved on 19 July 2007. was destroyed during the Tatar invasion in 1241 and subsequently rebuilt. During the reign of

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

the castle received an upgrade from wooden fortress to a stone one. The stone castle was operational as early as in 1348.Zamek Królewski w Będzinie
/ref> The growing trading village of Bytom was given

Magdeburg Law Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

city rights shortly afterwards, in 1358. The castle was meant to be a military outpost on the southwestern border of the

(later, the

). It was the most westward fortification, and was meant to hold off any invasion coming to

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

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 ...

n or

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

n lands. In 1364 the castle was visited by

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

. In 1588,

Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria Maximilian III of Austria (12 October 1558 – 2 November 1618), was a member of the House of Habsburg and the Archduke of Further Austria from 1612 until his death. He was also briefly known as Maximilian of Poland during his claim for the Polish ...

, was held prisoner in here, after his defeat in the War of the Polish Succession (1587–1588). The castle fell into disrepair in the late 16th century. The fire of 1616 and damage during The Deluge in 1657 resulted in the further destruction. The fortress was periodically repaired, but due to shifts in the layout of the borders and relations between Poland and its neighbours, it lost much of its importance. After the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

, Będzin fell into

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n control and the castle became property of the Hohenzollern family.Będzin: History and monuments
. Retrieved on 19 July 2007. In 1807, the nearby lands were transferred to the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

, and in 1815, to the

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. In 1825 the castle was virtually falling apart, and when a piece of the stone crushed a passerby, demolition of the castle was ordered, but before it was started, the castle was declared a monument. In the 1830s the castle was bought by Count Edward Raczyński and partially rebuilt, with a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church temporarily housed inside, but after Raczyński's death in 1845 plans to open an academy or a hospital there were abandoned, and the castle once again fell into disrepair. The castle was not rebuilt again until the times of

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, when in 1952–1956, a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

was opened there.

Museum

The castle became the site of a

, Zagłębie Museum in 1956.MUZEUM ZAGŁĘBIA W BĘDZINIE
Retrieved on 19 July 2007. The museum has several collections: one of armament, from medieval to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

times; second dedicated to the history of the Będzin Castle; third to the castles of the other nearby castles founded by Casimir the Great ( Eagle Nests Trail or ''Szlak Orlich Gniazd'') and the final one, to the military history of the Będzin region.

Architecture

The castle has two towers, a cylindrical one and a square one. Smaller buildings were attached to the towers. There were three layers of walls, and the castle was connected to the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

s, parts of which survived till today.

Gallery

File:Zamek w Będzinie Napoleon Orda.jpg, ''Będzin Castle'' by Napoleon Orda, 1881 File:Będzin w okresie międzywojennym - 05.jpg, Będzin Castle and a synagogue in the interwar period File:Bedzin Zamek JS3250912.jpg, General view of the castle File:Bedzin zamek 03.jpg, The castle's tower File:Będzin, Zamek.JPG, The castle at dusk

References

External links