History
The castle, originally called Waldenburg, was probably built at the beginning of the 14th century on the initiative of the Świdnica-Jawor princes, perhaps it was built by Prince Bolko II to protect his land from the Czech side. It was first mentioned in 1364. After the death of Bolko II, it belonged to his widow Agnes, then on the basis of a succession agreement concluded in 1353 it passed to the hands of Czech kings, and then became the property of the Silesian families. In the years 1402-1417 Ogorzelec was expanded, probably a new residential building was added in the upper courtyard. From 1434 to the 17th century, the castle belonged to the Czettritz family, with a short break for the years 1450-1462, when it was ruled by the Zedlitz family. During the fights of King Vladislaus with the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, it was an important defense point. It is known that in 1471 weapons to Nowy Dwór were delivered by the cities of Świdnica, Strzegom and Jawor. After the peace was concluded in 1490, the castle became the property of Fabian Czirnhaus, but soon it became the property of the Czettritzs again. They thoroughly rebuilt the castle in the Renaissance style at the end of the 16th century. After a fire in 1581 caused by a lightning strike, it was no longer rebuilt, although it was fortified temporarily during the Thirty Years’ War.
Architecture
Plan of the castle was irregular and very elongated. It occupied the top of the hill, the entire surface of its ridge about 140 meters long, with its oldest, south-eastern edge occupied by the oldest fortifications, cut off from the rest of the terrain by a ditch cut in the rock.
The upper ward had the form of an elongated, slightly bent rectangle with walls 1.3 meters thick, separated from the west by the said ditch. It consisted of perimeter walls, a rectangular house measuring 4.9 x 9.7 meters in the north-west corner, and a slightly protruding tower in the southern corner, perhaps similar to that built in the Zagórze Castle. A longer building, the so-called “master’s house”, divided into three rooms, reached the eastern corner. In the western part you can see the remains of the vaulted basement and stairs leading to it, carved in rock. The original gate was located in the northwestern part of the castle.
The courtyard of the lower ward was founded on the plan of an elongated trapezoid with a wider base at the height of the ditch. The only preserved building element is the defensive circuit. In the western corner there is a gate with a pointed passage, and in the perimeter wall there are two bastions, half-round in the north and triangular one in the south.
Current state
To this day, preserved remains of the castle consist of a gothic gate portal with two low towers, foundations of residential buildings, fragments of defensive walls surrounding the courtyard and the medieval upper ward, and relics of the tower.
bibliography:
Boguszewicz A., Corona Silesiae. Zamki Piastów fürstenberskich na południowym pograniczu księstwa jaworskiego, świdnickiego i ziębickiego do połowy XIV wieku, Wrocław 2010.
Leksykon zamków w Polsce, red. L.Kajzer, Warszawa 2003.
Rozpędowski J., Zamek Grodno w Zagórzu Śląskim i zamki Nowy Dwór, Radosno, Rogowiec, Wrocław 1960.