Zasmuky - Central Bohemia, Czech Republic - Castles on Waymarking.com

The first mention of Zasmuky is from the year 1285 when it was a fortress of the Thane Sulislav of Zasmuk. The Thanes of Zasmuk owned the fortress until 1533 when it was bought by Adam from Rican, the district executive, who rebuilt the fort into a squared renaissance castle. The former moat was made into vast stables, above them what may have once been a theater. It is now known as "The small Castle".

The thirty year war greatly damaged these parts of the country. Villages were looted, some totally disappeared, 60% of the inhabitants vanished. The estate of Zasmuky was bought by a profiteer, Vaclav Michta, who, within a year (1637) exchanged it with Jan Rudolph Sternberg.

Adolph Vratislav from Sternberg (1630 - 1703) inherited Zasmuky and rebuilt it in the spirit of the early Baroque by adding a tower, replacing the fortification with a park, creating a series of buildings for administration and farming trade and building a huge entrance tower into the complex, the portal decorated with his coat of arms, the eight pointed star. The last Sternberg to live in Zasmuky was Leopold (1896 - 1957).

In 1941, during the German occupation, the castle was run by a German "forced overseer". In 1945 the properties were returned to Leopold Sternberg with his family but only to be confiscated in 1948 by the Communist Regime. In 1949 the Castle of Zasmuky was given to the Czech Army and it became a store for weapons.

The castle was returned to Diana Phipps Sternberg in 1992, the daughter of the last owner. The castle currently undergoing reconstruction.

Accessibility: No access- Private Condition: Intact Admission Charge?: no Website: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/06/2016 Ali.3 visited it 03/27/2016 Dorcadion Team visited it 04/02/2014 NiHa58 visited it 01/31/2014 Blogi visited it

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