Castles & ruins 6: Hauenštejn, CZ
When castle Hauenstejn was founded we do not know, first reliable document from 1320s states that its owner Mikuláš Winkler sells the castle to the monastery in Doksany, so on this time castle definitely did exist.
The name might be from the old German Haue = hoe, hack and stein – fort, in Czech the castle called Horní hrad = mountain with mines or quarry; most probably it was one of the castles protecting many mines of the region. Here on Eger river ( Оhřе) were many coal mines as well as iron and silver, valuable materials were transported by river and of course were tasty morsel for all kinds of robbers.
The castle had many owners, one of them Kašpar Šlik was placed under house arrest here for participation in defenestration in Prague. The place is far away from everything and Kašpar had nothing to do but upgrade it to the highest standards of the time: the gothic castle become renaissance palace with wooden sewerage and plumbing. The chapel was built in front of the castle and brewery inside (talking about priorities, eh?).
After Šlik family other owners were not so caring and to the 19th century the castle was just a ruin. Luckily, in 1992 it was bought by Mr. Pavel Palacký and he with help of enthusiasts is rebuilding the castle to the formal glory. The place is not just a ruined historic landmark – there are all kinds of events held there regularly: from medieval fairs to escape games.
By the way, the walls around the castle were build by the Devil himself, here how it was:
At the time of Saxons attacks on Bohemia the castle captain was brave Vilem – man of high honor, proud, powerful and constantly swearing in the most horrible way. He swore a LOT and loud – everyone around, even in the farthest villages were shocked by his language. At the time of yet another Saxon attack when castle was holding by the last thread, Vilem cursed so awfully that even old solders went numb, sky got gray, then dark and thunder rolled over the country. The lightning stroke and rider appeared in front of the castle gates. The guards did not know how the rider got through and stand in front of Vilem.
The stranger offered Vilem to build a wall, the wall which not only Saxons – no one ever will defeat, and build it for just one night.
Vilem was smart man, he suspected who was in front of him and asked what da fuck he wants in return? The Devil smiled and said: just a trifle, your soul and soul of your every descendant if! while I would be building the wall you will manage to ride around the castle before the rooster cry.
The guys shook hands on that and at the sunset Vilem rode on around the castle and Devil started the wall.
Construction run fast: Devil just wave the hands and stones rose from the ground; Vilem rode through the thick forest, trees and bushes ripped his cloth and his skin, the horse was all bloody and it looked like nothing will help them to get in time. At that very moment Vilem the Captain got scared first time in his life and did what he never did before: he prayed. He prayed to God for forgiveness of all his sins, prayed for rooster cry, prayed for the wall which will save his people from enemies' swords, promising never to curse again. So sincere was his plea that before Devil could lay the last stone the rooster cried, then another one and sun came up over Hauenstejn. The Devil was furious but couldn't break his own deal and had to leave with nothing.
Strong walls of Hauenstejn helped in many attacks later on and are still standing for all to see.
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