Castle Boskovice

Boskovice Castle is located above the southern edge of Boskovice, about 11km north of Blansko. The extensive ruins of the 13th century castle have been listed as a cultural monument since 1964. Boskovice Castle was built in the second half of the 13th century and is typologically ranked among those castles with a mantlet wall. The building was repeatedly conquered and damaged in 1312 and at the end of the 14th century.

The demolished castle and nearby Boskovice were acquired after 1389 by Erhart of Kunštát, who proceeded with a costly restoration which, by its grandeur, surpassed most similar buildings in the country. During the Hussite wars the castle was re-conquered in 1424 and as a result of these events the Kunštáts began the construction of a new section of walls, reinforced with bastions. In 1434 the Boskovice estate was owned by the future Czech King Jiří of Kunštát and Poděbrad, who in 1458 ceded the castle to the provincial governor Vaněk Černohorský of Boskovice.

This brought the castle back into the possession of the family that founded it. In 1547 Kryštof of Boskovice sold the castle to Šimon Eder of Štiavnice and his son Vít sold Boskovice in 1567 to Jaroš Morkovský of Zástřizl, for whom work on the reconstruction of the castle continued. That‘s when the Renaissance tower was created, and adjacent buildings, entrance gates and fortifications were completed. The building works ended under Jaroš‘s successor Václav the Elder Morkovský of Zástřizl. In 1690 by marrying Zuzana Prakšická of Zástřizl her husband František Walter of Dietrichstein became the last owner to live in the castle. The castle no longer suited the Dietrichsteins, so they started building a costly chateau residence near the centre of Boskovice. As a result of the loss of its function the castle became dilapidated and was gradually used as a source of building stone for the construction of estate buildings in Boskovice. In 1843 the heiress of the Boskovice estate Terezie of Dietrichstein married Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly.

In 1856 Terezie died and her inheritance became the property of the Mensdorff-Pouilly family. In 1952 all the family‘s assets were confiscated. In 1991 most of the property, including the castle, was returned to the Mensdorff-Pouilly family on the basis of the restitution laws. Today, the castle is open to the public from April to October.