Książ Castle

Książ Castle
Książ Castle
General information
Architectural style	Gothic, Baroque, Rococo
Location	Wałbrzych
Construction started	1288
Completed	1292
Owner	Książ Landscape Park and Castle Museum

Książ (Former German name: Schloss Fürstenstein) is a castle in Wałbrzych in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It was built in 1288-1292 under Bolko I the Strict. It lies within a protected area called Książ Landscape Park, overlooks the Pełcznica River and is one of the city's main tourist attractions.

History

The original fortification was destroyed in the year 1263 by Ottokar II of Bohemia. Bolko I, Duke of Świdnica and Jawor built a new castle between 1288 and 1292. Duke Bolko II of Świdnica died in 1368 without having children with his wife Agnes von Habsburg. After her death in the year 1392 King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia obtained the castle. In 1401 Janko from Chociemice obtained the castle. The Bohemian Hussites occupied the castle between 1428-1429. In the year 1464 Birka from Nasiedla obtained the castle from the Bohemian crown. He sold it to Hans von Schellendorf. This second castle was destroyed in 1482 by Georg von Stein. In the year 1509 Konrad I von Hoberg (from 1714: Hochberg) obtained the castle hill. The Hochberg family owned the castle until the 1940s.

The castle was seized by the Nazi refime in 1944 because the Prince of Pless Hans Heinrich XVII had moved to England in 1932 and become a British citizen; also his brother Count Alexander of Hochberg who was a Polish citizen and the owner of Schloss Pleß (today Pszczyna Castle), had joined the Polish army. Fürstenstein castle was a part of the Project Riese until 1945 when it was occupied by the Red Army. Countless artifacts were stolen or destroyed by the Soviets.

It has been claimed that the castle was being outfitted as a future abode for Adolf Hitler.^[1]