Information & Pictures about Liberec - Castle Frýdlant

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The castle Frýdlant
The Frýdlant Castle, overlooking the river Smědava  is located at the foothills of the Jizerské Mountains. erected 750 years ago, its tower has been a mute witness to both happy and sad times in history of this beautiful area. Legend has it that in the past fires were lit on the tower, which served as a point of reference or beacon to merchants traveling along a trading route leading from Bohemia to Lusatia. Behind a huge wall stands one of the most stunning historic monuments in this country, a valuable combination of two architectural phenomena - a medieval castle and a renaissance manor house. Having erected it in the mid-13th century, the Lords of Dubé, members of one of the many branches of the Ronovic family, then found themselves divested of Frýdlant Castle or Castrum Vridelant by King Přemysl Otakar II, who sold it in 1278 to the Bibrštejns as a hereditary fief.  With the Bibrštejns as Lords - the were to hold the castle for the subsequent 300 years or so  - a number of alterations were made to the castle; It was expanded with the addition of new residential wings and enclosed  within a system of stone walls. A small town developed below the castle; in the 14th century, then inhabited by 77 taxpayers, it was granted the right to erect its own walls. In 1558 the Frýdlant demesne was purchased by the Redern family, who in the late 16th century had some Renaissance alterations made to the castle and a new Renaissance manor house and chapel erected on a design by the Italian architect Marco Spazzio di Lancia. In addition, the Rederns founded a new school and a hospital in the small town, and records exist to show that it even boasted  town baths.

Purchased in 1622  by Albrecht Waldstein for a mere 150 thousand guldens, the blooming Frýdlant estate was granted duchy status and Waldstein himself acquired the title of Duke of Frýdlant. The estate even continued to flourish through the thirty years war, when other parts of the Czech lands were locked deep in devastating turmoil. Waldstein's estate escaped the war, therefore, and Frýdlant came to be dubbed Terra Felix (Happy land). In its capacity as a supplier for Waldstein's troops, the small town experienced an economic boom. After the Duke's assassination in Cheb in 1634, the Frýdlant estates passed to General Matthias Gallas and before long the town had fallen to the swedes. It was not to be spared the horrors of war at later points of its history, either: in the mid 1700's, for example It was repeatedly occupied by Prussian troops. The Gallas family held the Frýdlant demesne until 1759, when it passed to a branch of the same, the Lords of Clam - Gallas, who were to reside there until 1945. In 1801 this culturally aware family of Nobles opened Frýdlant Castle to the public, thus making it the first Castle-cum-museum in Central Europe, which offered its visitors splendid collections of weapons, artifacts and "Relics" from the good old times, invoking the memory of their ancestors and Albrecht Waldstein. After 1945 the manor house rooms were opened to the public, thus allowing visitors to feast there eyes on fabulous collections of paintings, furniture, Delphi an faience, German and Italian ceramics, and a host of other furnishings common to the historic interiors of Ladies and Gentleman's chambers and the grand halls used for special occasions. The tour has recently been expanded to include the manor house bathroom  and children's room with a remarkable collection of toys. A collection of pipes, boasting extremely valuable items from the late 1700's to the early 1900's had been taken from the depositories where it had been conserved, dusted down, and placed on public display. A unique kitchen boasting original furnishings and equipment located on the ground floor is another treasure not to be missed. Visitors can even relish the smell of roast meat and a variety of specialties, because the kitchen remains in operation till this day. The town, whose historic core has retained its medieval ground plan in the form of a market square with streets branching off it, is a showcase of excellent historic monuments charting the communities eventful history from the Gothic period to the present. The turbulent period of the thirty years war and the intriguing personality of General Albrecht Waldstein is commemorated by the regular staging of the Waldstein celebrations, including among other attractions a parade of warriors clad in historical costumes. For the occasion the Town square turns itself into an old-time marketplace and weapons rattle once again during tournaments and battles.

Jana Pavlíková