Zámek Hradec nad Moravicí

Zámek Hradec nad Moravicí History

The quality of the architectural complex of Hradec nad Moravicí Castle, located in a 60-hectare natural park, and the valuable artistic and historical collections rank the castle as a sought-after tourist destination in the region. It is known as an important music center where numerous extraordinary events are held each year, most notably the international interpretation competition called Beethoven's Hradec.

The slope of Hradec was permanently settled as early as around 2 000 BCE. The building development of the locality itself began with a Slavic settlement. In its place-after the main Premyslides castle burned down-in the mid-13th century King Premysl Otakar II. began building a new, extensive and imposing Gothic castle surrounded by a sophisticated system of fortifications. From 1279 to 1281 his widowed wife Kunhuta held court.

In the 14th century Hradec was the seat of the Premislids of Opava and the administrative center of the Opava principality. In 1481 it obtained the town charter and symbol and market rights.
From the beginning of the 16th century it passed into the hands of several feudal lords, the last of whom was Kaspar Pruskovsky of Pruskov, who in 1585 obtained its assets as hereditary property and simultaneously began the reconstruction of the castle into a Renaissance seat with a decorative garden and tree-lined park. The new, more modern quality of life certainly influenced the level of family and social life in Hradec. Among other things, many domestic musicians performed here; the chateau band has been known since the 1930s, and operas were also performed in the theater hall.

In 1778 the manor of Hradec passed to the Prussian family of Lichnovský of Voštice, who in the early 19th century-after the fire of 1796-arranged the general adaptation of the chateau in the contemporary Empire style. The extensive modification of the main residential building was accompanied by the extension of the complex with the neo-Gothic Red Castle with stables, carriage halls, and wall murals in the second half of the 19th century. The castle surroundings were also subject to change. The old fortification system was demolished, the slopes leveled, and a natural park of excellent composition and dendrological quality was created. Then the pseudo-Gothic White Tower was added near the garden tract as the last building in the area.

The manor of Hradec was held sequentially by eight princes and counts of the Lichnovský family over six generations. Each of them was an individuality with extraordinary education, interests, skills and contacts. All this could not fail to mark the social and representative position of Hradec Castle, as well as the spectrum and level of its collections. In addition to sovereigns, dignitaries of European courts, political and social celebrities, the castle also hosted numerous celebrities from the cultural world. Hradec was visited by, among others, L. van Beethoven, F. Liszt, J. Mánes, G. Hauptmann, H. v. Hoffmannstahl, K. Kraus and Listz's daughter Cosima Wagner. The Lichnovský family maintained friendly relations with W.A.Mozart, N. Paganini, A. von Humboldt, V. Hugo, R.M.Rilke, M. Twain, P. Picasso or O. Kokoschka.

In May 1945 the manor was confiscated in favor of the Czechoslovak state, and the castle was soon opened to the public. The object has undergone a major overhaul since 1979; part of the interior, partly reconstructed and restored, was made accessible again in 1996.