Less than 50 miles from the tripoint border of Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany, the town of Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, embodies the region’s architectural heritage. The historic center of the town has street layouts and many ordinary buildings that date back centuries. Larger architectural works, including two magnificent monasteries, add to the beauty and historicity.
Most impressive of all is Cesky Krumlov Castle. Overlooking the town from a promontory across the Vltava River, the 17-acre complex includes some of the finest examples of Bohemian Renaissance and Baroque architecture.
Oldest of all is the modest 13th-century Little Castle. Expansion began 100 years later when Peter of Rosenberg built the palatial Upper Castle, still the largest part of the complex. Outer defensive walls, later used as a base for additional residential and storage buildings, date from approximately the same time.
But the castle didn’t appear as it does today until it became the primary residence of William of Rosenberg (1535–1592) in 1551. A devoted patron of the arts, literature, and scholarship, William was determined to make the castle a regional center of culture. Over the next 40 years, the castle was renovated and expanded in the style of the Bohemian Renaissance that combined classicist symmetry and proportions with colors and materials of the region’s Gothic architecture.
The last major additions and renovations date from the 17th and 18th centuries. Following Bohemian baroque standards, they closely conform to Italian models—ornate, dramatic, fluid. The most notable is now the world’s best preserved Baroque theater. Limited 19th-century alterations in a variety of styles completed the castle as it is today.
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James Baresel is a freelance writer who has contributed to periodicals as
varied as Fine Art Connoisseur, Military History, Claremont Review of Books,
and New Eastern Europe.