Houska
- Classification
- Castle
- Country
- Czechia
- Region
- Česká Lípa
- Address
- Houska 1, 471 62 Doksy
Houska is an early Gothic castle given a Renaissance remodelling, lying in the eastern part of the Kokořín forests, 47 km north of Prague. It has been protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1965. The original Gothic castle, whose masonry is to this day largely preserved within the fabric of the Renaissance-remodelled buildings, was built in the first half of the 13th century by King Přemysl Otakar II, though it is probable that his father Wenceslaus I had already begun the construction. The castle is mentioned in written sources only in 1316, already as the property of Hynek of Dubá. At the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century, with the development of artillery, a massive outer fortification was constructed, thanks to which the castle was assessed as impregnable even after the Thirty Years' War. Between 1584 and 1590 the castle's inner ward was converted by the Hrzán family of Harasov into a Renaissance chateau, at which time, among other additions, the entire present entrance wing was built. After the end of the Thirty Years' War the Habsburgs issued an order to demolish all castles that might become a stronghold for the enemy in the event of further military conflict, and Houska was among them. The estate owners, however, secured an arrangement whereby in 1658 only the quadrangular early Gothic tower, the walls with their parapets, and the agricultural structures in the castle's outer works were demolished, with all the material used to fill in the castle moats. Although the originally planned total destruction of the castle thus did not occur, Houska nonetheless lost its fortification system. In 1700 Jan Vilém Kounic purchased Houska. Under the Kounic family Houska ceased to serve as the lords' residence and only the most essential maintenance was carried out. Only when Vincenc Karel Kounic had the chateau adapted in the Neo-Renaissance style in 1823 was this changed. Houska remained in the possession of the Kounic family until 1897, when it was acquired by a princess of Hohenlohe; after her death in 1918 the estate was inherited by Countess Eleonora Andrássy. From her the castle of Houska was purchased in 1924 by Josef Šimonek, director and later president of the Škoda Works and senator, who was elevated to the baronage in recognition of his services to industrial development. After extensive repairs in 1929–1930 it was used until 1939 as the family's summer and representational residence. In the early 1990s the castle was returned in restitution to the descendants of Josef Šimonek, who are gradually restoring it and have for the first time in the castle's history opened it to the public.
Mirek256 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · CC BY-SA 3.0