Karltejn

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This article is about the castle. For the town named after the castle, see Karlte
jn (Beroun District).
For other uses, see Karlstein.
Karltejn
Castle
Karlstejn.jpg
Karltejn Castle
Country Czech Republic
Region Central Bohemia
Coordinates
495622N 141117ECoordinates: 495622N 141117E
Style Gothic-Renaissance
Founded 1348
Location in the Czech Republic
Location in the Czech Republic
Website: [1]
Karltejn Castle (Czech: Hrad Karltejn; German: Burg Karlstein) is a large Gothic c
astle founded 1348 AD by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor-elect and King of Bohemi
a. The castle served as a place for safekeeping the Imperial Regalia as well as
the Bohemian/Czech crown jewels, holy relics, and other royal treasures. Located
about 30 km southwest of Prague above the village of the same name, it is one o
f the most famous and most frequently visited castles in the Czech Republic.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Architectural description
3 Gallery
4 Notes
5 See also
6 External links
History[edit]
Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire was kept in the Castle until 1421
Karltejn around 1850.
Founded in 1348, the construction works were directed by the later Karltejn burgr
ave Vitus of Btov, but there are no records of the builder himself. Some historia
n speculate that Matthias of Arras may be credited with being the architect, but
he had already died by 1352. It is likely that there was not a progressive and
cunning architect, but a brilliant civil engineer who dextrously and with a nece
ssary mathematical accuracy solved technically exigent problems that issued from
the emperor's ideas and requests. Instead, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV person
ally supervised the construction works and interior decoration. A little known f
act is that the Emperor hired Palatinate region labour for the remaining work. C
onstruction was finished nearly twenty years later in 1365 when the "heart" of t
he treasury the Chapel of the Holy Cross situated in the Great tower was consecr
ated.
Following the outbreak of the Hussite Wars, the Imperial Regalia were evacuated
in 1421 and brought via Hungary to Nuremberg. In 1422, during the siege of the c
astle, Hussite attackers used biological warfare when Prince Sigismund Korybut u
sed catapults to throw dead (but not plague-infected) bodies and 2000 carriage-l

oads of dung over the walls,[1] apparently managing to spread infection among th
e defenders.
Later, the Bohemian crown jewels were moved to the castle and were kept there fo
r almost two centuries, with some short breaks. The castle underwent several rec
onstructions: in late Gothic style after 1480, in Renaissance style in the last
quarter of the 16th century. In 1487 the Big tower was damaged by fire and durin
g the 16th century there were several adaptations. During the Thirty Years' War
in 1619, the coronation jewels and the archive were brought to Prague, and in 16
20 the castle was turned over to Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. After having
been conquered in 1648 by Swedes, it fell in disrepair. Finally, a neo-Gothic re
construction was carried out by Josef Mocker between 1887 and 1899, giving the c
astle its present look.
The nearby village was founded during the construction of the castle and bore it
s name until it was renamed to Buda in the wake of the Hussite Wars. Renamed to
Budany in the 18th century, it was merged with Pounk and called Karltejn (Beroun Dis
trict). There is a golf club named after the castle nearby.[2]
Architectural description[edit]
The castle was built upon a promontory from the south side of Kn hora hill, divided
from it by a narrow sag. The first gate, a square, two-storey tower with a tall
hip roof, stood above a moat at the western slope of the promontory. It was con
nected with the rampart traverse by means of a small portal. The traverse was pr
otected by battlement and divided by a covered bastion in the middle. The second
gate led to the Burgrave House (Purkrabstv) courtyard. Drawbridges closed both e
ntrances. The Burgrave House formed the Karltejn settlement, it was fortified wit
h a two meters wide rampart, the Well Tower stood slightly lower. In the burgrav
iate's rampart a third gate was staved - the main entrance into the inner castle
.

View of inner castle (Marian Tower is on the left)

The core of the castle consisted of three parts placed on three levels-different
iated terraces; every level express different importance. On the lowest terrace
there stood the Imperial Palace (Csask palc), above it there was the Marian Tower (M
arinsk v) and the Big Tower (Velk v) stood the highest. The Palace is a single-tract
ilding, about 12,5 m wide and 46 m long, closed in the east by a semi-cylinder t
ower, had aside of the cellar dug in the rock the ground floor and two walled fl
oors; the third floor under the roof was built from half-timbered work. The grou
nd space is open to the courtyard, the rest was occupied by a granary. Three roo
ms form the first floor; largest is the central room, the so-called Knight Hall
(Rytsk sl). The emperor inhabited the second floor of the palace; the floor was divi
ded into four rooms by self-supporting partitions. A spiral staircase connected
it with the third floor in which according to the record from the 16th century t
here was a residence of the "empress with her female retinue". The layout and eq
uipment of the second and third floor was approximately the same: bedrooms on th
e eastern side, then the stateroom, a hall and the rooms in the west.
The central area of the 60m high and separately fortified (47,5 m thick walls) Bi
g Tower is the Chapel of the Holy Cross (kaple sv. Ke); it has no analogy in concep
t elsewhere in the world. In the safety of the chapel, behind four doors with ni
neteen locks to each key was guarded independently, the valuable documents of th
e state archive were kept along with the symbols of the state power the Imperial
Regalia, later the Czech Crown Jewels.
The Well Tower (Studnin v), being the logistical centerpiece the castle could not fu
nction without, was the first part of the castle to be built. Miners were brough
t in from the mining town of Kutn Hora, however, water was not encountered even a
fter the depth of the well was 70 meters, well below the level of the nearby Ber

ounka river. An underground channel was therefore excavated to bring in water fr

om a nearby stream, yielding a water column of 25 meters, sufficient to last for
several months. The reservoir had to be manually refilled roughly twice a year
by opening a floodgate. Considering the significant strategic weakness incurred
to the castle by the lack of an independent water source, the existence of the u
nderground channel was a state secret known only to the Emperor himself, and the
burgrave. The only other persons aware of its existence were the miners, who we
re however allegedly massacred on their way from the castle after the constructi
on, leaving no survivors.
Gallery[edit]
Karltejn Castle and village.
Pope Gregory I, by Theodoric of Prague, 1360-65, Chapel of the Holy Cross.
Oldest depiction, from 1720.
Karltejn in 1976.
Air view
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Hobbes, Nicholas (2003). Essential Militaria. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978
-1-84354-229-2.
Jump up ^ Karlstejn Golf Club - Prague GOLF RESORT KARLTEJN a.s.
See also[edit]
List of castles in the Czech Republic
Czech Gothic architecture
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karltejn.
Official website
Castle website with many photos
Categories: Castles in the Czech RepublicRoyal residences in the Czech RepublicB
eroun DistrictImperial castlesCharles IV, Holy Roman EmperorCastles in the Centr
al Bohemian RegionMuseums in the Central Bohemian RegionHistoric house museums i
n the Czech RepublicNational Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic
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