Helfenburk (castle ruin)

The environment in which the castle ruins are located is undoubtedly very romantic, which is confirmed by the number of cultural events and even wedding ceremonies, which take place here quite often. A system of defensive and cannon bastions and a torso of a two-aisled castle palace have been preserved.

Permission to build the castle was issued by Charles IV. in 1355, at the request of the brothers of Rosenberg. They chose the Malošín hill with a strategic position in the middle of forests for the construction of Helfenburk. After them, the castle was owned by Jan of Lobkovice, then by Jan of Švamberk and then again owned by the Rožmberks. The last of them, Petr Vok, sold the castle in 1593 to the village of Prachatice. In later years it was owned by the Eggenbergs and the Schwarzenbergs. Today, Helfenburk Castle falls under the administration of the city of Bavorov.

The castle originally had a three-part layout and a 2-palace core with two floors in the middle of the fence. Each floor of both palaces had two rooms, with rooms on the first floor more representative and a paneled room in the eastern palace. The premises were connected by a wooden arcaded corridor on stone pillars, which revolved around the entire courtyard.

Between 1477 and 1483, the castle was rebuilt in order to increase its defenses, however, the core of the castle was hardly affected by these modifications. Of great importance is the Gothic fortifications from the late Middle Ages, which already includes some more advanced elements, but above all it is one of the few well-preserved fortifications from this period.

Author: Andrea ŠtyndlováThe environment in which the castle ruins are located is undoubtedly very romantic, which is confirmed by the number of cultural events and even wedding ceremonies, which take place here quite often. A system of defensive and cannon bastions and a torso of a two-aisled castle palace have been preserved.

Permission to build the castle was issued by Charles IV. in 1355, at the request of the brothers of Rosenberg. They chose the Malošín hill with a strategic position in the middle of forests for the construction of Helfenburk. After them, the castle was owned by Jan of Lobkovice, then by Jan of Švamberk and then again transferred to the ownership of the Rožmberks. The last of them, Petr Vok, sold the castle in 1593 to the village of Prachatice. In later years it was owned by the Eggenbergs and the Schwarzenbergs. Today, Helfenburk Castle falls under the administration of the city of Bavorov.

The castle originally had a three-part layout and a 2-palace core with two floors in the middle of the fence. Each floor of both palaces had two rooms, with the rooms on the first floor having a more representative character, and a paneled room in the eastern palace. The premises were connected by a wooden arcaded corridor on stone pillars, which revolved around the entire courtyard.

Between 1477 and 1483, the castle was rebuilt in order to increase its defenses, however, the core of the castle was hardly affected by these modifications. Of great importance is the Gothic fortifications from the late Middle Ages, which already includes some more advanced elements, but above all it is one of the few well-preserved fortifications from this period.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová