User:Hartenberg

=Introduction= Hartenberg Castle is located in the idyllic and lovely valley of the river Svatava, seven kilometers before its confluence into the river Ohre, the largest river of the foothills of the Kursne Hory Mountains. The beautiful landscape contrasts with the name of the castle – Hartenberg means “hard rock” in German but those who visit the castle and familiarise themselves with the history will understand the reason for the name.

In the past, the castle was besieged, captured, and plundered several times and its foundations were often shaken by local earthquake clusters. The castle burst into flames many times, with the last three fires in the years 1985-1991 gradually destroying the palace, court, and finally the tower. The castle has not recovered from that shock yet.

The seriousness of the damage was enormous; the north part of the palace collapsed to its foundations, the tower fell into unstable ruins, all wooden constructions were devastated, and the courtyard buildings almost disappeared.

Nevertheless, the rescue of the castle is a very urgent task, because the castle represents one of the oldest castle ruins in Bohemia. The castle has a long and rich history, and plays a crucial role in the understanding of not only the superregional but also the complex international relationships of that time.

The international significance of the castle survives to this day. Several international volunteering projects are held each year since 2000 in collaboration with INEX SDA. These projects have had a big success, not only at a national level but also internationally. Hundreds of people from over 45 different countries, including Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, the United States and Canada, volunteered to help with the restoration of the castle, which has become a popular and well-liked base for student volunteering projects in Europe.

Besides these events, the castle continues to live its regional life with an extensive calendar of events, the most popular being: “Frightening Hartenberg”, “Castle Music fest” and “St Nikolas Ride”. The atmosphere and collaborative spirit of these events attract thousands of people each year. Have a look at the castle, enjoy the spacious interior, and host your own event here or one for your children. The gates of this provincial “kingdom“ remain open to all who would wish to roam around a magical region steeped in rich history, and full of the beauty of its landscape. Start following in the footsteps of J.W. Goethe or Count Koplova. Come and try to breathe in the atmosphere of this ancient shady nook full of history.

=History=

According to available sources of information, the castle was founded by the Hartenberg Dynasty. Besides Hartenberg Castle, they used to have many other castles and fortress in the region. There has been a long debate about the foundation year of Hartenberg Castle. Historic documents mention many Lords of Hartenberg during the whole 13th century, for example Tuto, Habart, Albrecht, Kunrát, Ebrhart, Oldřich, and Jindřich, widow Hedvika, most often as the donors or partners of Valdsas monastery. In the years 1307-1325 they owned the mines in the surrounding lands of the castle. The nearby forest by Svatava River was exploited for wood, and they caught fish in the Libock River. Since 1350 the property of the Hartenebrg family became the empirical property of Charles IV against a payment from town of Budyšín in Lužice. In 1401 Venceslas IV, indebted son of Charles IV, entrusts the castle to Habatus and his relatives with the condition that the castle must be always open to the king. The arrival of Maleřík dynasty in 1407 meant the end of Hartenberg rule in the castle.

During the Hussite epoch the castle was under the control of emperor Zikmund against the Hussites, and thus could not have been overseen by the Žlutice marshal. According to several versions, the castle was besieged by commander Petřík or by Marshal Jakoubek. However, documents about a direct siege are lacking. German literature mentions a legend about a daughter of Zdeňka from Mateřík family, a loyal catholic, who was supposed to have defeated the German army. The true part of the story is that after the death of Mateřík the castle was governed by his widow who looked after his son, who was the successor to ownership of the castle. When Mateřík’s son became an adult he returned the castle to the King Jiří from Poděbrady. Since Loket’s Lord Šlik contributed to the payment of the deposit to the Mateřík family he obtained the castle. After 1467, when Matěj Šlik got the castle, he reconstructed the ramparts, built a new chapel with three altars, which were consecrated by Bishop Dietrich. In 1523 the property is taken over by Štěpán Šlik, part of the Ostrov family branch. At that time, the provincial territory extended up to Luby. The first mining chronicle was established in the new town Oloví in 1528.

The main objective was to connect the area with the Jachymov region, where the exploitation of silver was enormous after 1516. Jachymov became the third biggest town in Bohemia after Prague and declining Jáchymov. The amount of exploited silver hit 9000kg a year and it was processed in 13 smelting works. This led to a production of a new currency made of silver and known as Tolar, which rapidly spread throughout Europe. Šlik family, having ownership in the main local mining region, made a huge profit. However Štěpán Šlik was killed soon after in a hard battle against Turks in nearby Moháč, in which he assisted with his friend King Ludvík Jaglonský. The next elected king, Ferdinand I, was chosen from Austrian Habsburg dynasty. Habsburg Castle became the property of Štěpán’s brother Jeroným Šlik, who extened the castle domain to include the Loket region. Ferdinand I envied the wealth and rights of Šliks and established his new rules here. In 1545 the Šlik family was cut off from profits of mining and all rights for mining were given to the King.

In the years 1546-1547 there was another noble uprising against the king. In the Šmalkald war the Czech nobles supported the German Protestants and Jeroným Šlik opened Loket Castle to the Saxon people.