Ostroh Castle (Seeberg)

The castle of Ostroh - Seeberg on a high rocky point above the brook (that’s the origin of its name) was probably founded in 1200 as a ministerial residence appertaining to the imperial residence in Cheb. Ostroh was already settled in the primeval ages when there was a castle site fortified with a bulwark and two Gross moats possibly used during the construction of a Romanesque castle. The first written evidence about the local castle comes from 1322 when it was mentioned as part of the Cheb region pledged to King Jan Lucemburský of Bohemia. The town of Cheb retained the estate administration and proprietary rights to the castle to the moment when Emperor Zikmund Lucemburský presented it to his Chancellor Kašpar Šlik, originally a patrician of Cheb, in 1434. When Councilor Kašpar Juncker of Cheb bought Seeberg in 1461, the castle was in a very desolate condition. After his descendats´deaths the castle was transferred to the ownership of brothers Konrád and Jošt from Neuberg in 1497. Konrád was at a long lasting local war with his neighbor Jorg from Zedwitz, owner of the nearby castle of Liebenstein (today’s Libá), who ransacked a great part of the Seeberg estate. During the Thirty-Year War Seeberg was conquered by the Swedish troops of General Königsmark in 1648 and having been occupied it was plundered and set on fire. Therefore, the then owner Vít Dětřich from Steinheim had to reconstruct it after the departure of the Swedish army. After the death of the last male heir, as a caduca it became the property of the Bohemian chamber and Emperor Leopold I conveyed it to his privy counselor, lord treasurer and lord chancellor Jan Hartwig, free lord from Nostitz. Since 1703 the Seeberg castle has been owned by the town of Cheb.
The castle lay-out has two parts. The lower castle is separated from the castle center by a moat with an access bridge. The Romanesque castle was encircled by a wall preserved in the front part till today to which a tower building was attached on the northeastern corner. During the additional building and enlargement of the Gothic castle the front part was linked up with a new gate with a gate-way shifted out and a palace situated at the southern wall. In front of the eastern and southern circumferential wall there was a parkán built and the third moat with a draw-bridge crossed the back point. The buildings in this most western part of the point may have been completely destroyed during the Renaissance reconstruction of the castle. It was carried out under the Neuberg family rule in the 16th century. At the time the terrain of the western point was leveled and the third moat was filled up. A new annex connecting the northern tower building with the southern palace was built into the eastern part of the parkán. The annex in the direction of the courtyard was complemented with Renaissance arcades. After the Swedish invasion only some repairs may have been done. Later on the castle buildings were raised by one floor. The old draw-bridge was undone and later replaced with a new one with revetted pillars between 1724-1726. The town of Cheb used the castle primarily for agricultural purposes. Around 1800 the tower above the gate to the area below the castle was taken down ant the outer moat was filled up. The reconstructions in the period 1905-1915 saved the castle becoming a total ruin. After the World War II the building conditions of the premises were neglected again. A complete reconstruction of the castle grounds which started in the mid 1970s was completed by the Municipal Museum in Františkovy Lazne in 1990, when the castle was festively opened to public. In the castle palace there is an exposition of the style development of the 19th century interiors from the Empire style to the Chippendale style of the first quarter of the 20th century. In the oldest castle section you can see an original black kitchen and a knight hall (wedding hall). In the area below the castle there is an exposition of folk architecture of a open-air-museum-type /skanzen/. An exhibition “Life of the country people of Northwestern Bohemia is on display there.

W from Prague - 2,5hours

Trips :
1)Ostroh and Cheb trips number CWW10 + CWW11 - 9hour round trip

Trips combinations :
2)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 - 10hour round trip
3)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Plzen brewery CSWW1 - 10hour round trip
4)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Moser glassworks CWW3 - 11hour round trip
5)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Nelahozeves castle CNW1 - 11hour round trip
6)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Sirem-Franz Kafka CB3 - 12hour round trip
7)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Plzen brewery CSWW1 - 12hour round trip
8)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa{WW2} + Nelahozeves {NW1} + Lidice WW2 memorial {W2}- 12hour round trip
9)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Terezin concentration camp CNW3 - 12hour round trip
10)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Karlstejn castle CSW1 - 12hour round trip
11)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Krivoklat castle CW1 - 12hour round trip
12)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Moser crystal fact. CWW3 + Lidice WW2 memorial CW2 - 12hour round trip
13)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Kynzvart spa CWW6 - 12hour round trip
14)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Plzen brewery CSWW1 + Sirem of F.Kafka CB3 - 13hour round trip
15)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Nizbor crystal factory CW3 + Krivoklat castle CW1 - 13hour round trip
16)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11+ Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Terezin conc. camp CNW3 + Lidice WW2 memorial CW2 - 13hour round trip
17)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Nelahozeves castle CNW1 + Terezin conc. camp CNW3 - 14hour round trip
18)Ostroh and Cheb CWW10 + CWW11 + Karlovy Vary spa CWW2 + Karlstejn castle CSW1 + Krivoklat castle CW1 - 14hour round trip


Our popular tours are outlined on our web sites:
www.private-tours.net
www.private-tours.cz
jewish.tourstoprague.com