Kadan Castle, Kadaň, Czech Republic

In the 13th century, the town of Kadaň was promoted to a 'Royal City'. It began to thrive and a new town was built on the heights above the river, with a castle and Franciscan monastery. The castle was mentioned first time in 1289. It was established as a four-wing Premyslid castle with a housing palace over the river. It served as the seat of the royal burgrave – the administrator of the Kadan region.

The castle was rebuilt in the mid-15th century. After it had been damaged during the Thirty Years Wars, Maria Therese allowed it to be rebuilt as military quarters in 1750. The eastern wing is used for the municipal library with an internet cafe and ceremonial hall. The Josef Liesler Gallery has been in operation since September 2000. A nursing home is situated in another part of the castle.

References:

mesto-kadan.eu

User Reviews

marie neuzilova (2 years ago)
Super....

Zdeněk Dvořák (3 years ago)
nice place

Leit Marzena (3 years ago)
Kadan castle is very beautiful monument in the city kadan

Richard Pratt (3 years ago)
Amazing walk through the castle and many charmong places to eat and visit with friends. The history of the area is fascinating and the information center will provide historical information on all the sites.

Jerry C (3 years ago)
Amazing castle on a special place - on the rock above a river. His position is very majestic but only from outside of the town. If you go to the castle from the town - you can hardly find it. But if you find it so its entrance is beautiful example of medieval castle. In the gate there is a ticket office. In the medieval cellars there is an exposition about the history of the castle - in the second half of the exposition there are models of castle and models of parts of the castle. I recommend to visit it, because the exposition is amazing and unusual!

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Giåm

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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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