History
The castle in Żmigród (German: Trachenberg) was first recorded in 1296. The next information about the castrum belonging to the princes of Oleśnica comes from 1375. With the death of the last Oleśnica Piast, Konrad the White, in 1492 the town and castle became the property of the Czech king Vladislaus Jagiellon, who handed over the local lands to the Polish feudal of Wielkopolska, Zygmunt Korcbok (Kurzbach) from Witkowo. Wilhelm Kurzbach in 1560 founded a brick tower house, although soon after, in 1579, the castle was ravaged by fire. The Kurzbach family owned Żmigród until 1592, when Ulrich von Schaffgotsch bought it. Under the new owners, the castle burned down in 1605. In 1642 the castle was captured by the Swedes, who raised the outer bastion fortifications. From the 17th century to 1945, Żmigród was in the hands of the von Hatzfelds, who made a thorough reconstruction of the old complex. From the 70s of the 17th century, an early modern palace was built on the site of the castle.
Architecture
The castle was situated in a naturally defensive place, among swamps and backwaters of Barycza. In addition, it was surrounded by an irrigated moat. It had an irregular layout with a tower standing at the northern section of the perimeter walls and a gate from the south. The residential and defensive tower erected in the 16th century was built on a quadrilateral plan measuring 10.4 x 10.8 meters, four storeys high, made of bricks in the Flemish bond. Its lower parts above the plinth were decorated with slender blendes with semicircular heads.
Current state
Until the present time, from the castle has survived only a residential-defensive tower from 1560. Its upper floors are not original because they come from the 19th century. The curved staircase is probably also a later addition. Since 2008 the remains of the castle have been adapted for tourist purposes.
bibliography:
Chorowska M., Rezydencje średniowieczne na Śląsku, Wrocław 2003.
Leksykon zamków w Polsce, red. L.Kajzer, Warszawa 2003.
Przyłęcki M., Budowle i zespoły obronne na Śląsku, Warszawa 1998.