{"id":51912,"date":"2023-06-05T23:30:25","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T21:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=51912"},"modified":"2024-11-05T23:32:13","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T22:32:13","slug":"czocha-a-castle-surrounded-by-legends-that-was-erased-from-the-maps-in-1952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/06\/05\/czocha-a-castle-surrounded-by-legends-that-was-erased-from-the-maps-in-1952\/","title":{"rendered":"Czocha: a castle surrounded by legends that was erased from the maps in 1952"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland is a region that has had a very eventful history over the past millennium.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/05\/26\/fort-santiago-the-spanish-fortress-that-survived-a-brutal-battle-of-world-war-ii\/\">Fort Santiago: the Spanish fortress that survived a brutal battle of World War II<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/05\/17\/vrana-the-ruins-of-an-old-castle-of-the-order-of-the-knights-templar-in-croatia\/\">Vrana: the ruins of an old castle of the order of the Knights Templar in Croatia<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>Like other parts of Central Europe, that Polish region passed from one hand to another over time. That was also <strong>the story of Czocha Castle, built in the 13th century<\/strong> and located less than 6 kilometers from the border with the Czech Republic.<strong> Its construction was ordered by Wenceslaus I, King of Bohemia<\/strong> (today part of the Czech Republic). Later it passed into the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, and its walls were besieged by the Hussites and the Swedes.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52954070778_6ac621dcdb_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Polish explorer group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@UrbexHistory\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Urbex History<\/a> released a video today showing <strong>the role-playing game currently taking place in the castle<\/strong>, with an impressive setting (the video is in Polish, you can activate the English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nawiedzony zamek Czocha i portal do Diablo IV w lochach\" width=\"665\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/I4jE9UV6L0M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I have not found anything about the legends that the video cites, but about other much later ones. <strong>There are stories linking Czocha to the Abwehr, the German intelligence service<\/strong>, during World War II. On <a href=\"https:\/\/zamekczocha.com\/wydarzenia\/sladem-wojennych-tajemnic-zamku-czocha\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the official website of the castle<\/a>, which today works as a hotel, they also point out that it was <strong><em>\"a place where the most secret projects of miraculous weapons\"<\/em> of nazism <\/strong> were worked on, and that this made Czocha <em>\"a great cache of treasures and secrets of the Third Reich.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52954070718_79df8e7b48_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The castle's website also talks about <strong>possible treasures belonging to the family of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia<\/strong>, which Ernst Gutschow would have hidden in hiding places inside the fortress. Gutschow, a tobacco businessman from Dresden, was the one who <strong>rebuilt the castle after buying it in 1909<\/strong> for 1.5 million marks, since it had fallen into ruins. He commissioned the task to the German architect Bodo Ebhardt, who relied on a 1703 engraving for the reconstruction. <strong> Gutschow, who had a relationship with the Russian imperial court, welcomed Russians fleeing communism into the castle.<\/strong> He lived there until 1945.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52953620151_060eefec34_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At the end of World War II, <strong>the castle was looted by the Red Army<\/strong>. Later the region, which was in German hands, became part of Poland to compensate this country for its eastern strip, annexed by the Soviets in 1939. <strong>In 1952, the Polish Army turned the castle into a secret place and he erased it from the maps<\/strong>, in order to turn it into a residence for officers. For years it has been the setting for the filming of several films.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52953022187_1dffff2e33_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>In 1996, after the fall of communism, the castle opened its doors to the public.<\/strong> In addition to being a hotel, it functions as a venue for various events, such as weddings, first communions and congresses, in addition to the aforementioned role playing game. <a href=\"https:\/\/zamekczocha.com\/atrakcje\/nocne-zwiedzanie-zamku-czocha\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Torchlight visits are also made at night<\/a>, as you can see in the video.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52953022222_793e0b44ef_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It must be said that <strong>the interior aspect of the castle is truly impressive<\/strong>, with wooden floors and walls, coffered ceilings and a decoration reminiscent of the ancient times of this fortress, as you can see in these images of its official websito.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52954001160_35176d1992_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As a curiosity, <a href=\"https:\/\/zamekczocha.com\/pokoje\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">all the rooms are different<\/a>, receiving very picturesque names. <strong>The most impressive, without a doubt, is the so-called \"Komnata Ksi\u0105\u017c\u0119ca\" (Prince's Chamber) <\/strong>, which you can see below these lines. The bed, the stained glass windows, the text and the chairs are true works of art.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52953758859_f33af9b480_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; margin:10px 0 10px 0;\" \/><\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Images: <a href=\"https:\/\/zamekczocha.com\/atrakcje\/nocne-zwiedzanie-zamku-czocha\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ZamekCzocha.com<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=I4jE9UV6L0M\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Urbex History<\/a>.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland is a region that has had a very eventful history over the past millennium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12876,16879],"tags":[18142,19404,10370],"class_list":["post-51912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excluir-de-anotaciones-eng","category-fortifications","tag-castles","tag-czocha-castle","tag-poland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}