Hněvín Castle

Hněvín is a Neo-Gothic castle situated on a hill of the same name in the city of Most. The original medieval castle was demolished after the Thirty Years' War. Its present appearance comes from a historicizing reconstruction from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In German, the castle is called Landeswarte, meaning Land Guard, which referred to the guarding of the territorial border.

The castle hill was inhabited already in prehistoric times. This was demonstrated by archaeological research in the nineteen sixties. On the southwestern slope, about fifty meters below the summit, lies a plain damaged by a quarry. On its edge, remains of an earthwork from the Late Hallstatt period were found. Other finds document a settlement of the Unetice culture from the Early Bronze Age, the presence of the Knovíz culture people, and also structures from the eighth and ninth centuries.

At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the area around Most was controlled by the Hrabiš family. In twelve hundred and seven, Kojata the Fourth donated a vineyard on Hněvín hill to the Osek monastery. Shortly after, King Václav the First acquired the local lands and probably at the end of the thirteen thirties founded the Most castle and city.

The first written mention of the castle dates from twelve forty-eight. At that time, Přemysl Otakar the Second besieged it during a rebellion against his father, but was unable to capture it. The castle then repeatedly passed into pledge. In thirteen seventy-three, Charles the Fourth, together with the city, pledged it to the Margrave of Meissen Frederick, to whom he betrothed his daughter Anna. The marriage ultimately did not take place, so the castle returned to royal hands only in fourteen hundred and six after a buyout payment was made.

During the Hussite Wars, the castle remained unconquered. In fourteen fifty-five, Jiří of Poděbrady besieged it, but it became royal property only in fourteen fifty-nine based on the Cheb peace treaty. In fourteen eighty, it was purchased by the brothers Beneš and Ludvík of Veitmile.

In fifteen eighty-five, the castle was acquired by Ladislav Popel the Younger of Lobkowicz. He was however accused of rebellion against Emperor Rudolf the Second, fled, and the castle was confiscated from him. The following year, the emperor sold it to the city of Most for sixty-nine thousand four hundred and eighty Meissen groschen. The estate included a number of villages, mills, and Lake Komořany. However, the ruler reserved the right of first refusal and the city had to maintain the castle garrison at its own expense.

During the reign of Rudolf the Second, alchemists stayed at the castle at his command, the Englishman Edward Kelley and the Greek Marek Mamugny. Kelley was initially the emperor's favorite, but later was arrested and imprisoned.