Dívčí Hrad (german: Maidelberg) is a municipality and village in

Bruntál District Bruntál District ( cs, okres Bruntál) is a district (''okres'') within Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Bruntál, but the largest town is Krnov. Part of the district belongs to Moravia, while another part belongs to ...

in the

Moravian-Silesian Region The Moravian-Silesian Region ( cs, Moravskoslezský kraj; pl, Kraj morawsko-śląski; sk, Moravsko-sliezsky kraj) is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region ( cs, Ostravsk� ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. It has about 300 inhabitants.

Geography

Dívčí Hrad is situated in the

Osoblažsko Osoblažsko (literally ''Osoblaha Region'', german: Hotzenplotzer Ländchen, pl, Ziemia osobłoska) is a microregion in the Bruntál District in the northernmost part of the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. The microregion is also ...

microregion on the border with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. It lies in the Zlatohorská Highlands. The highest point of the municipality is the hill Hraniční kopec with an elevation of , located on the Czech-Polish border. The

Osoblaha Osoblaha (; german: Hotzenplotz; pl, Osobłoga) is a municipality and village in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,100 inhabitants. Administrative parts Osoblaha is made up of one administrati ...

River flows across the municipality. There are two ponds in the municipal territory, called Dívčí Hrad and Pitárno.

History

The first written mention of Dívčí Hrad is in the will of Bishop

Bruno von Schauenburg Bruno von Schauenburg (also known as Bruno Olomucensis; 1205 – 1 or 17 February 1281 in Kroměříž) was a nobleman and Catholic priest of German descent, bishop of Olomouc in 1245–1281. He was one of the main advisors and diplomats of th ...

from 1267, when the local castle was called ''Deuviz''. In 1474, the castle was conquered and destroyed by the army of

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

. Around 1573, a new Renaissance castle was built by Hynek Bruntálský of Vrbno on the site of the castle ruin. In 1580, Dívčí Hrad was bought by the Sedlnický of Choltice family, and after it was confiscated from them in 1622, it was acquired by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. In 1768, Dívčí Hrad was acquired by the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, who owned the castle until the 20th century. From 1976 to 1990, Dívčí Hrad was an administrative part of

. Since 1990, it has been a separate municipality.

Transport

Dívčí Hrad is served by the Dívčí Hrad stop on the narrow-gauge

Třemešná ve Slezsku – Osoblaha Railway The Třemešná ve Slezsku – Osoblaha Railway is a narrow-gauge railway connecting Třemešná on the Krnov– Głuchołazy line with Osoblaha on the Czech-Polish border. It is one of the three remaining narrow gauge railway lines with regular ...

, but the stop is located just outside the municipal territory.

Sights

The main landmark is the Dívčí Hrad Castle. This Renaissance castle is architecturally related to northern Italian churches with elements of fortress architecture. The castle was severely damaged during the World War II and then reconstructed. Oblík Natural Monument consists of a rocky hill with statigraphic and paleontological significance. There are fossils of

crinoid Crinoids are marine animals that make up the Class (biology), class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or coma ...

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, ...

s and

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, ...

s from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Divci Hrad Villages in Bruntál District