Jezeří Castle

Jezeří Castle (German: Schloss Eisenberg) is located west of Dolní Jiřetín (Niedergeorgenthal), below the steep slope of the Ore Mountains in the Czech Republic. The magnificent Baroque castle was rebuilt in 1549 on the foundations of a castle built in the mid-14th century. In 1623, a further expansion in the Baroque style took place. After a fire in 1646, the castle remained uninhabited for a longer period. It was not until 1696 that the Lobkowiczes restored the complex, which, however, burned down again in 1713.

After 1722, the castle was used as a hunting lodge; in 1802, a theater was added, and in 1805, a chapel. In the 1820s, a 50-hectare castle park with plants from foreign countries was laid out.

Due to numerous high-profile cultural and social events, famous people of the time, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his Duke Karl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, visited Schloss Eisenberg. After the end of the war in 1945, the German owners were dispossessed and expelled (or murdered) by the Czechs. These crimes were legalized by the Beneš Decrees.

The castle's floor plan forms a double cross with wings, at whose western ends two towers rise. The central, highest tower above the entrance gate is adorned with Atlantes. The interior of the castle is furnished with princely splendor. Jezeří possesses a collection of antlers, a theater and a chapel, a large park, and a zoo.