History
The castle, originally called Fürstenberg, and from around the mid-fourteenth century Fürstenstein, was probably built around 1288-1291 from the foundation of the Świdnica-Jawor prince Bolek I, who moved his seat from Lwówek to the new stronghold, although it is not entirely clear whether the oldest preserved records are not referred to the nearby Stary Książ (German: Alt Fürstenberg) castle. The first such mention appeared in 1293 in the title of prince Bolek I (“Bolko dei gratia dux Slesie et dominus de Wrstenberc”). Similarly, a document issued in 1337 could refer to one or the other building. It recorded pastures that were located “versus castrum Fürstenberg”. It was only from about the middle of the 14th century that all records referred to the new castle, because Stary Książ certainly ceased to function in the first half of that century, and its role was taken over by a newer building on the opposite side of the Pełcznica River.
In 1355, the castle was mentioned in information about the subordination of castles located in the vicinity of today’s Wałbrzych by the prince Bolko II. Castle was than captured and Kekelon of Chirnen detained, a knight who in the light of earlier documents appeared as one of the most prominent figures in the principality. The background of this rebellion of knights and the motives of the prince’s action are not entirely clear. After Bolko II regained the castle, a new princely burgrave was established – Bernard von Zedlitz (“Bernhardo de Furstenberg purcgrave” in 1366, but on subsequent documents from the same year “Bernhard von Furstenstein” and “Bernhardo de Czedlicz burgrabio de Furstenstein”). After the death of princess Agnes in 1392 and the expiration of this line of Silesian Piasts, Książ along with the rest of the principality went under the rule of the Bohemian monarch, Wenceslas IV. In 1410, the administrator Johann von Chotienitz (Jan of Chotĕmice) bought the castle from royal hands, holding it until his death in 1428.
During the Hussite Wars, subsequent owners were engaged in robbery, attacking nearby villages, towns and trade routes. In 1463, the castle was captured by the Czech king, George of Podebrady, and he placed a new, trusted keeper on it, Birka von Nassidel, who in 1466 entrusted Książ to Hans von Schellendorf. After some time, they also began to engage in robbery, and Hans was additionally one of the declared supporters of George of Podebrady and his successor, Vladislaus II, which made him an enemy of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus. In 1475 and again in 1477, Hans managed to defend Książ against Hungarian troops. Only the expedition in 1482 of Hungarian, Wrocław and Lusatian troops under the leadership of George von Stein managed to capture the castle and imprison Schellendorf. The new staroste, George von Stein, made a significant expansion, including a southern wing called the “Matthias Wing”.
In 1509, the building was leased to the Hoberg family (Hochbergs). In 1603 or 1605, the Hochbergs received a castle and property belonging to it as hereditary property of the family. During the Thirty Years War Książ was partially destroyed and plundered. Damaged fortifications were rebuilt in 1648 for garden terraces and a north-west wing was also added. The next reconstruction in the Baroque style was commissioned in the years 1705-1732 by Konrad Ernst Maksymilian von Hochberg. In the years 1909-1923, prince Jan Henryk Hochberg, prince von Pless, made another reconstruction, adding a new south-west wing with two corner towers. The last of the Hochberg family in the castle was Maria Teresa Oliwia Hochberg von Pless, forced in 1940 to leave Książ. Military institutions were set up in the castle, and under it, Nazi prisoners were forced to dig a network of tunnels. After the war, the Polish authorities started to renovate the devastated monument.
Architecture
The castle was built on a rocky promontory, ended on three sides by steep escarpments, reaching a maximum height of approximately 80 meters, descending from the south, west, and partially north toward the Pełcznica River valley. In its southwestern part was the upper ward, built on an oval or almond-shaped plan, with the only convenient access road leading from the northeastern neck, through the slightly wider and longer outer bailey. The entire complex occupied a vast area of approximately 80 x 300 meters, divided in the Middle Ages into three sections by two transverse ditches carved into the rock.
One of the main and perhaps the oldest stone elements of the original castle was a massive, quadrangular tower, situated near the front of the upper ward, measuring approximately 20 x 70 meters. Due to the irregular course of the defensive perimeter, it was connected to the wall only at the northern corner, effectively being a freestanding structure. Behind the tower, the defensive wall separated an irregularly planned, elongated rear courtyard, slightly inclined eastward, and a second, smaller economic courtyard in the front, with an even steeper slope. The two sections were connected by a narrow passage between the tower and the curtain on the southeast side. The tower dominated over the entire complex, being built at the highest point of a rocky outcrop. It controlled the connection between the two courtyards and the inner part of the gate to the northeast. Both the tower and the wall were constructed of stone, bonded with a strong lime mortar with a mixture of clayey sand, giving it characteristic yellow-brown color.
The castle’s main tower was built on a roughly square plan measuring 10.5 x 11.5 meters, with massive walls 3.2-3.4 meters thick. It served as a bergfried, a structure intended for a final defense, normally uninhabited. The ground floor housed a high, dark cell, then the entrance floor, and above that, a vaulted chamber that allowed the princely family to survive a siege. Due to the reduced wall thickness, this chamber was larger than the rooms below. Thanks to the stone vault, it was protected from fire that could penetrate from above, from the open or covered defensive platform for the guards. The tower’s total height originally exceeded 25 meters. Access to the interior was possible via only one entrance, located at a height of approximately 10 meters. This had to be accessed via an external wooden stairs or ladder. Ladders or wooden staircases also had to be used to connect the tower’s floors. Light reached the interior through slit openings. Heating had to be provided solely by portable appliances.
The castle’s main residential building was located in the southwestern part of the courtyard. It was a significantly elongated and irregularly planned structure, shaped to fit the defensive perimeter, with northwestern and southwestern walls forming part of it. For this reason, the building likely lacked large windows on the exterior, located only on the courtyard side. The ground floor was likely illuminated by splayed slits. On the slopes above the Pełcznica River Valley, the building’s walls may have had overhang latrines, or a projecting turret adjoined from the outside. The building’s interior had a basement, thanks to the filling of a rocky recess between the two ridges, the eastern and western one. Due to its adaptation to the uneven ground, the building was approximately 25 meters long at the basement and ground floor levels, and as much as 36 meters long at the level of the original first floor, which was set on the rock and rested against the western section of the defensive wall. On the northeastern side, an undeveloped space remained between the house and the main tower. It is possible that the above-ground part of the house was of mixed construction of stone, wood or clay.
The cellars of the main residential building consisted of two vaulted chambers and a connecting passage or ramp, likely used for transporting barrels of beer or wine. This was evidenced by the undercutting and splaying of the western chamber’s portal at a certain height, created to facilitate barrel transport (similar to the portals in the townhouses of nearby Świdnica, known for its brewing industry in the Middle Ages). The upper part of the ramp opened onto the castle courtyard approximately halfway up the wing. The cellar chambers were barrel-vaulted, as was the connecting passage. Another passage likely existed alongside the defensive wall in the Middle Ages, as it contained recesses for two windows or embrasures. The ground floor, in typical medieval fashion, may have been divided into three rooms for utility or auxiliary purposes, the smallest of which was located at the southwest end on a roughly square plan. The residential rooms on the first floor may have had a similar layout.
The castle’s residential development was complemented by an elongated building, erected on a bent rectangular plan, situated on a slope outside the southeastern curtain. Its location outside the perimeter suggests either a somewhat later addition or a reluctance to reduce the already narrow courtyard. On the slope side, the house was supported by three massive buttresses. The interior was divided into three stories, the lowest of which, due to the slope of the hill, was below the courtyard level. It was lit by small windows with trefoil heads, typical of the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. The top story may have served representative functions, although its net vault may have been a result of the regothicization. In the 14th or 15th century, the upper ward was surrounded by a low outer wall, demarcating the zwinger area on the hillside. The outer wall was added to the two shorter walls of the southeastern building.
In front of the upper ward, on its northeastern side, beyond the inner ditch was a small courtyard of the middle ward, housing one or two buildings and a semicircular tower flanking the gate to the south. Further to the middle ward adjoined from the north-east a lower or outer bailey with an elongated, oval outline. Both parts were separated by a ditch carved in the rock. The outer bailey was surrounded by a wall with battlements, in the front part of which was built a high, cylindrical tower, protecting the gate and the neck preceding it. The neck was located at a slight slant and two semicircular towers were provided at the head, in front of which there was also a short foregate with a straight front wall. The buildings in the outer bailey were to be concentrated at the northern and southern curtains. There were stables, a brewery, a forge, a bathhouse and various sheds.
Current state
In today’s Baroque-Neo-Renaissance castle, it’s difficult to see original medieval architecture. The most visible element from this period is undoubtedly the main tower. Its lower, quadrangular section dates from the second half of the 13th century, as do the lower sections of the perimeter walls of the upper ward, now pierced by early modern windows. Two early Gothic windows with trefoil heads have survive in the walls of the former southeastern house. In the 17th century, it was extended northward, but it can still be distinguished by three massive buttresses from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, later connected by early modern arcades. The eastern cellar chamber has survived within the original main residential building, but without the vault that was demolished in 1943. The western chamber, however, was completely demolished during the rebuilding works between 1909 and 1923. Książ Castle together with interiors is open to visitors. The complex also has a gastronomic section and a hotel. The opening hours of the ticket offices can be checked on the official website of the castle here.
bibliography:
Boguszewicz A., Corona Silesiae. Zamki Piastów fürstenberskich na południowym pograniczu księstwa jaworskiego, świdnickiego i ziębickiego do połowy XIV wieku, Wrocław 2010.
Boguszewicz A., Książ Castle (Fürstenstein), “Castrum Bene 15”, Wrocław 2017.
Chorowska M., Mruczek R., What did Książ castle look like around 1300?, „Architectus”, 2(82), 2025.
Leksykon zamków w Polsce, red. L.Kajzer, Warszawa 2003.
Pilch J., Leksykon zabytków architektury Dolnego Śląska, Warszawa 2005.