History
Kašperk castle was built on the northwestern foothills of the Ždánov Mountains. Its floor plan is 300 m long and oval-shaped. The position of the castle was probably its greatest advantage as the terrain is very steep on both of its longer sides, thereby offering excellent defense.
The castle was founded in 1356 by the Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV. There were three good reasons for building the castle at this particular place. First of all, it was necessary to protect the borderline between Bohemia and neighbouring Bavaria. The second reason was the ruler´s desire to defend the gold-bearing area around Kašperské Hory and to ensure safety on a newly established trade route called the “Golden Route”. Finally, it lead through Bohemia and Bavaria to the developed parts of western Europe; one of its branches passed through Kašperské Hory.
The central part of the castle consists of an oblong palace positioned between two residential towers. This central part was detached from the first peripheral fortification. The front walls of the 30m high towers did not have any openings (except the bay window in the western tower), thereby offering better protection if the castle were to be attacked.
Although Kašperk castle had the status of a royal castle it was not kept directly by the royal chambers. It used to be let to the king´s pledge holders. The holder of Kašperk castle was given the right and duty of supreme administrative authority and judicial power in the region of Prácheň, which represented a big part of southwestern Bohemia.
The first of the notable pledge holders of the castle was the second archbishop of Prague and the first Czech cardinal, John Očko of Vlašim (Jan Očko z Vlašimi). During the years 1411 – 1454 Kašperk castle belonged to the house of Zmrzlík of Svojšín and Orlík. Two Peters, the father, who was a royal moneyer, and his son both belonged to Utraquism. Therefore the castle had never been threatened by Hussites. On the contrary, Petr Zmrzlík, the younger one, used to organise marauding attacks to neighbouring catholic Bavaria. The castle was never conquered.
In the second half of the 15th century Kašperk castle became the property of the very influential house of Šternberkové of Šternberk. In 1465, Zdeněk of Šternberk formed a revolt against King George of Poděbrady (Jiří z Poděbrad). The castle was involved in it as well – the garrison had to get ready for a possible siege by the king´s forces. A small fortress, nowadays called the 'Deserted Fort' (Pustý hrádek), which is situated 400 m east from the castle, might have been hastily built at that time. Today, there is only a ruin of it. George of Lokšany (Jiří z Lokšan), a vice-chancellor and an important adherent of the Czech king Ferdinand I of Hapsburg (Ferdinand I. Habsburský), was one of the notable holders of the castle. This Silesian knight held the castle in pledge in the early 16th century and contributed to the king´s victory in another revolt taking place at those times. At the end of the 16th century the castle started to fall into decay and its importance was being lessened. The royal chamberlain started to sell off the Kašperk estate. Finally, in 1616, the nearby town of Kašperské Hory bought the already-derelict castle and it has owned it up to now.