Freudenštejn Ruin

Freudenštejn, also known as Friedenstein, Old Fürstenwald or Karlovický castle, was a Silesian castle situated in the City of Vrbno pod Pradědem, about two kilometres southwest of Karlovice. Today it remained a ruin, protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1958. The castle was built by the Czech king or moravský markrabě on a narrow rock falling into the valley to guard the border with Silesia, which was part of Poland.

The purpose of the castle was more: it is assumed that it protected the mining of precious metals in the surrounding mountains, guarded an important journey from Moravia through Karlovice and Vrbno to Poland and thus protected Bruntál from the attacks from Poland. The exact time of origin remains uncertain. Historians agree that the castle was established in the first stage of fortifying the Earth's paths on Jesenick, probably in the first half of the 13th century or later. It is assumed that it was founded by the Royal Order by the Bruntal fojt Bertold, which in 1267 also founded the Light Mountain (now the Light Mountain). The landscape administration was also provided by Mikuláš I. Opavský, illegitimate son of King Přemysl Otakar II. Archaeological findings come mainly from the years 1250 to 1300 and indicate the duration of the castle for approximately seventy years, roughly until the end of the first third of the fourteenth century. The castle was destroyed peacefully, by simple abandonment. The first written mention dates back to 1579, when the castle appears as desolate on the map of the Bruntal estate. The original name is probably based on the German word friede (protection, peace), not from freude (joys).

The castle was not ambitious. It was built on a rocky ridge with an entrance from the west, a protected tower gate. The road led through the moat to the courtyard, where stood about a storey palace approximately 15 times 12 meters. His perimeter walls were about two meters thick. The three sides of the castle were guarded by moats and walls reinforced by stone-covered ploughing. The core was protected by a wall of carefully folded stones with modest mortar. There were only operational wooden structures nearby. Archaeological findings including ceramic shards, crossbow arrows, horseshoe and hatchet appear to have come from various stages of exploitation. In the valley near the castle there are visible traces of mining of precious metals, which suggests a connection to the mining settlement.

Today the visitor meets only modest remnants of castle walls and moats. Some modern buildings from the 20th century are not part of the original castle. Freudenštejn remains a witness to the uncertain beginning of Czech border fortification and reminds of the modest scale of medieval defense on this strategically important border.