Špilberk (Brno - South Moravia) - Historic Forts on Waymarking.com

Over the course of the centuries, the importance of Špilberk and the part it has played have changed considerably. From a major royal castle and the seat of the Moravian margraves, it gradually turned into a huge baroque fortress, the heaviest prison in the Austro-Hungarian empire (the infamous "dungeon of the nations"), and then a barracks. Today, Špilberk house the Brno City Museum, and is one of the most significant cultural centres in Brno. It was certified as a National cultural monument in 1962.

The castle was established around the mid-13th century on fairly low, but rather steep, rocky hill (290 m), rising directly over the historical centre of the town (at about 220 m). Its builder, Czech King Premysl Otakar II, approached it as a solid pillar of royal power as well as a seat for the rulers of Moravia, worthy of respect. The oldest written records of the existence of the castle relate to the years 1277-1279. The castle started to deteriorate again during the Thirty Years' War, and its relatively negligible garrison of about 40 men hardly testified to the fact that Špilberk might ever again play an important military role either.

However, the situation changed with the partial military occupation of Moravia by the Swedish army, which twice closely threatened the Moravian metropolis, in 1643 and 1645. The fortifications of the castle and the town were speedily restored and improved. The strategic significance of the castle was demonstrated once again when, in 1645, Brno and Špilberk, led by Commander Raduit de Souches, withstood a three-month siege against considerable Swedish odds. It was then gradually - until the mid-l8th century - converted into the most massive and most important baroque fortress in Moravia, making up, as a citadel, a single fortified unit with the equally fortified town. In 1742, it proved to be an impassable obstacle to Prussian King Fridrich II. The military commanders of Špilberk at the time also held the position of Moravian marshals.

A prison had always constituted part of the Špilberk fortress. Shortly after the defeat of the Uprising of the Estates in 1620, the leading Moravian members of this anti-Habsburg "insurrection" were imprisoned in Špilberk for several years. From the last quarter of the 17th century to the early 1780's, several high-ranking military personalities were held there, including leading Austrian commanders Bonneval and Wallis and the infamous Franz Trenck, colonel of the Pandours, who died at Špilberk in 1749, as well as dozens of "ordinary" prisoners sentenced to fortification work. In 1783, Emperor Joseph II decided that Špilberk should no longer function as a fortress prison and that it should be converted into a civil prison intended for the most hardened criminals. For this purpose, the casemates, parts of the fortress system that had hitherto been insufficiently used, were reconstructed. Their mass cells could hold as many as 200 prisoners.During the Second World War Spilberk was used as a seat of German soldiers. In the end of the 20th century Spilberk was reconstructed and opened for visitors.