Hodonín Castle

The castle Hodonín is a defunct mansion in the South Moravian Region, which came from the original Přemyslovský border castle and played an important role as an administrative centre on the Moravian-Hungarian border.

The beginnings of the castle are not entirely clear. The historians long assumed that it was founded by the Přemyslívovci around the middle of the 11th century as a successor to the castle in Mikulčice, but archaeological findings clearly do not prove it. It is possible that the administrative function was taken over by the fortified Hradic Castle near Petrov, where a growing settlement is demonstrated from that time. When the Horrors began to stagnate during the first half of the 12th century, that is when the first mention of Hodonín Castle appeared in the written sources.

The first written report dates back to 1169, when Castelán Hrdiš of the House of Hrdišovce was appointed on the list of Olomouc princes. Hodonín served as an important guard point and administrative centre at the border with Hungary. In the first three decades of the 13th century, he was among the esteemed estates of Queen Constantine of Hungary.

The political position of Hodonína culminated in 1301. In Hodonín Castle, Czech King Václav II met with representatives of Hungarian nobility. From these important negotiations came the decision that Václav's son would be Hungarian king. Young Václav of Hodonína left and was crowned Ladislav V in Hungary the same year. Similarly important was the role of the castle in 1372, when Emperor Charles IV negotiated the terms of his son Zikmund's marriage to Mary of Anja, daughter of Hungarian King Louis I.

Since the 15th century, Hodonín has been gradually reaching the hands of various noble families - Kunštátátky, Pernštejn and Lords of Lipé. Like other border mansions, Hodonín did not escape war traps. In 1605 it was almost completely burned by the Bočkajov hordes and in 1623 it was destroyed by Gabriel Bethlen during his siege. Under the administration of the Jampachs and later Liechtenstein, the castle was gradually restored, although it was looted by Prussian soldiers during the first Silesian war in 1742.

Since the 18th century the castle has gradually lost its feudal function. The castle complex is industrially used and the last remains of the old architecture are demolished in the early 20th century, when new buildings of the tobacco factory replace them. The main castle building was located west of Bratislava Street, in the place where the factory complex later grew up. A new chateau was built in the 17th century, which today resembles Hodonín's past as an important centre of administration and diplomacy.