Louka Castle: A Medieval Noble Seat in Czechia
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.2
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Czechia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire, Margraviate of Moravia
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page10 sections
History
Louka Castle is a medieval castle in Czechia, probably founded by the Lords of Lomnitz in the second half of the thirteenth century. It stood in a frontier zone beside the possessions of the Lords of Kunstadt, Pernstein, and Boskowitz, with its domain extending north toward the Bohemian lordship of Svojanov.
The Lomnitz foundation and lordship
The castle was first recorded in 1360, when it belonged to Proček of Lomnice. Louka served as the administrative centre of a large lordship based around Moravská Olešnice. Its estates reached to Poříčí and Věchnov, and a manorial farm, an agricultural and administrative farm attached to a noble estate, is recorded in connection with the castle from 1391.
Jan of Lomnice sold the lordship to Jan Ozor of Boskowitz in 1416. The Boskowitz family retained Louka for about fifty years. In 1464, Dobeš, Beneš, and Tas Černohorský of Boskowitz sold the castle and lordship to Bohuš of Lomnice.
Transfer to the Pernstein domains
Pertold of Tworkau acquired the lordship through his marriage to Katharina of Lomnice. In 1496, their sons Ondřej and Kryštof sold Louka to William II of Pernstein. The transaction included the villages of Černovice, Louka, Poříčí, Hodonín, and Tasovice, the town of Olešnice, the Lauka game park, and the deserted villages of Německé, Milejov, and Křižánkov.
William II incorporated these holdings into the Pernstein lordship, a noble territorial domain administered from a central seat such as a castle. After this change, Louka ceased to serve as the seat of the lordship. The castle was repaired for the last time at the beginning of the sixteenth century, although William II’s will described it as inhabited in 1521.
Decline and desertion
When William II’s possessions were divided among his sons, Louka passed to Johann of Pernstein. After the Pernsteins acquired the Kunstadt lordship, the Louka estates were attached to Kunstadt after 1520. Vratislav of Pernstein sold Louka to Hans Friedrich, Count of Hardegg, at Letovice, in 1561. By 1591, the castle was described as deserted.
Remains
Hilltop setting and layout
The remains of Louka Castle occupy Hradisko Hill north of the village of Louka, at an elevation of about 635 metres. The site stands above the Dvorský potok in the Upper Svratka Highlands, an upland region within the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. The surviving layout includes fragments of the gate and residential buildings, together with the castle moat. Foundations mark the line of the defensive walls.
Castle structures
Gate and residential buildings
Fragments of the castle gate survive alongside remains of the residential buildings. These elements preserve the entrance and accommodation areas of the former castle within the hilltop site.
Defensive walls and moat
The defensive walls survive at foundation level, while the castle moat remains as part of the site’s physical remains. Together, they mark the castle’s former defended perimeter.
Second World War memorial
A memorial to the victims of the Second World War stands on Hradisko Hill beside the castle remains.
