Fulnek Chateau

The castle in Fulnek is an extensive complex of buildings consisting of the Upper and Lower Castle, which is located on the Castle Board in the city centre. Since 1958, it has been protected as a cultural monument. The top lock is a significant visual dominant, visible from a distance of many kilometers. The buildings are privately owned and underwent significant building development from the 16th to 20th century.

The first written mention of Fulnek dates back to 1293, when it was owned by páni z Lichtenburka. Later it was held long by páni z Kravař, who built a castle here in the 14th century. This was mentioned specifically for the first time in 1372. In the following times the castle is gradually moved into the hands of other noble families - Sternberk and Žerotín. A significant change was brought about in 1540, when the Silesian nobleman Oldřich Cetrys z Kynšperka, who held an important position in the court of Louis Jagellonian, purchased Fulnek. But his sudden death in 1543 led to another ownership shift - his wife married Baltazar Schweinitz, who then had the castle converted to a representative Renaissance castle.

The reconstruction into a two-story Renaissance castle is carried out by Baltazar Schweinitz in the second half of the 16th century, inviting Italian artists to work. The main hall was decorated with frescoes with portraits of Roman emperors, although this valuable art ensemble later disappeared in one of the fires. At the beginning of the 17th century, the construction works under the leadership of Skrbenských from the Game continue. Their owner Jan II. starší Skrbenský z Hříště, however, joined the construction uprising, resulting in the confiscation of the estate. Since 1622, the castle has been owned by Bruntalské of Vrbno for more than 150 years.

The year 1788 brought a change with the rich Opava merchant Karl Čejka of Badenfeld, who purchased the estate and was promoted to knighthood that year. More than half a century later, in 1842, Fulnek buys Baron Kristián Friedrich Stockmar, a personal physician of the Belgian King Leopold I. The purchase price was 3quarter of a million gold pieces. Leopold I. actually became the owner, even though the ruling monarchs at that time were not allowed to own foreign goods - Stockmar served as his legal intermediary. After the death of the king, his younger son, Prince Philip of Flanders, followed by his daughters, replaced him with wealth.

Earth reform radically changed ownership in the 1920s. The grandeur with the castle included 2,636 hectares of land and owned by Belgian Princess Henrietta, Duchess of Vendôme, and Josephine, the married Princess Hohenzollern. After the reform, the princesses decided to abandon the assets in Czechoslovakia and sell them. The castle and the remaining large estate were purchased for six and a half million crowns by František Chrastina, the factory and former mayor of Valasské Meziříčí, and JUDr. Jaromír Špaček, a member of the National Assembly and a significant Czech minority in Fulnek. In 1928, Smáček bought his share and became the sole owner.

The Second World War and the subsequent political changes had a cruel impact on the castle. Spacek left during the occupation in Prague, returned after the war and tried to restore the plundered castle, but February's coup 1948 definitely took his property (formally 1950). The chateau was subsequently used by the state medical institution - the City Institute of National Health in Ostrava - as a medical warehouse. After 1989, the estate returned to his son Rostislav Spacek, who until then lived in the United States. He started a partial reconstruction of the castle and restored the castle park, but eventually he sold the decrepit object. Today the castle is private property.