Kokorin Castle (Czech Republic)

The Kokořín Castle is located in the middle of a nature reserve on a steep rocky outcrop above the Kokořín Valley, north of the village of the same name. Originally, a medieval fortress carved in local sandstone was built there in the days of King Jan Lucemburský. The first recorded mention of Kokořín dates from 1320. In the same year Sir Jindřich of Osměchov received Kokořín manor from the nobleman Hynek Berka of Dubá who - a bit 'of time in the mid-14th century - had the original castle built.
Over the following centuries many important noble families Kokořín Castle for short periods. Among them, in the 15th century, the warlord known Jan Řitka of Bezdědice, Sir Aleš Škopek of Dubá who owned the castle during the Hussite Wars, the lords of Klinštejn, Berkov of Šebířov, Kuplíř, and Hrzán of Harasov gained control in the first part of the 16th century. Eventually, the castle ended up back in the hands of the nobles of Berka. After the battle on Bílá Hora the possessions of the Berka family were confiscated and bought by the Wallenstein dynasty. After the death of Albrecht von Wallenstein the Kokořín castle was placed in the possession of the king.
By the 16THE century the castle failed to meet the needs of current living standards and had fallen into disrepair. After the Thirty Years War, Emperor Ferdinand III even ordered the castle to be ranked among the so-called castles "damn" - those that could not be maintained. The castle has deteriorated rapidly in the following years it was owned in turn by a number of hosts. According to legend, the castle came under the control of even the robber barons, including Petrovský Petrovice who spread fear throughout the region.
By the end of the 19th century, only ruins remain of the castle, however, has increasingly attracted the attention of a whole generation of poets and painters of the Romantic period, for example, K. H. Mácha, Josef Mánes and others. The castle is entered into the public consciousness in 1895, when a model of its ruins was displayed by the Czech Tourists Club in an ethnographic exhibition National Prague causing the castle to be partially open for tourists.
In the same year, the castle Kokořín, including the ruins of the castle, were purchased by Václav
Špaček, an aristocrat from Starburg. He allocated a significant amount of its finances to start a complete renovation in 1911. The project participants of this impressive reconstruction were historic leaders of the time (A. Sedláček, Z. Winter and C. Zíbrt). The reconstruction was finished in 1918 by Václav's son Jan Špaček enhansed that the original conception of cultural-patriotic commitment to the role of the family memorial. Despite some objections to rebuild style, based on the spirit of Romanticism late, the project represented the first complete preservation of a medieval ruin in the Czech Republic and its recovery from the audience. After 1950, based on the laws of agrarian reform, the castle was nationalized by the communist government.
Still in 2006, the castle was returned to the hands of the heirs of the Špaček family. They are going to sum up the family tradition and keep this popular historical monument open to the public.