Kokořín
Castle lies in the middle of a nature reserve on a steep rocky spur
above the Kokořín Valley, north of the village of the same name.
Originally, a medieval fortress carved in the local sandstone was built
there in the days of the King Jan Lucemburský. The first recorded
mention of Kokořín dates from 1320. In the same year Sir Jindřich of
Osměchov recieved Kokořín manor from the nobleman Hynek Berka of Dubá
who – some time in the middle of 14th century - had the original castle
built. During the following centuries many prominent noble families
owned Kokořín Castle for brief periods. These include, in the 15th
century, the well-known warlord Jan Řitka of Bezdědice, Sir Aleš Škopek
of Dubá who owned the castle during the Hussite wars, the lords of
Klinštejn, Beřkov 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 noblemen 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 possesion of the king.
By the 16the century the castle failed to meet the demands of the
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 "cursed" castles – ones that might no longer be
maintained. The castle deteriorated rapidly and in following years it
was owned in turn by a whole series of landlords. According to legend,
the castle even came under control of robber barons, including Petrovský
of Petrovice who spread fear throughout the region. By the end of the
19th century only ruins remained of the castle which, however,
increasingly attracted the attention of a whole generation of poets and
painters from the romantic period, e.g. K. H. Mácha, Josef Mánes and
others. The castle entered into the general public’s awareness in 1895,
when a model of its ruins was displayed by the Club of Czech Tourists at
a national ethnographic exhibition in Prague causing the castle to be
partially open for tourists. In the same year, the Kokořín manor,
including the castle ruins, were purchased by Václav Špaček, a
aristocrat from Starburg. He allocated a considerable amount of his
finances to start complete reconstruction in 1911. Participants in the
project for this imposing reconstruction were leading historians of the
time (A. Sedláček, Z. Winter and Č. Zíbrt). The reconstruction was
finished in 1918 by Václav´s son Jan Špaček who enhansed the original
conception from cultural-patriotic dedication to the role of family
memorial. Despite some objections to the style of reconstruction, based
on the spirit of Late Romanticism, the project represented the first
complete preservation of a medieval ruin in Czechia and its recovery by
the public. After 1950, based on the agrarian reform laws, the castle
was nationalized by the communist government. As late as in 2006, the
castle was restituted to the hands of the Špaček family heirs. They
intend to reassume the family tradition and keep this popular historical
monument open to the public.
