A Brief History:
29 miles north of Prague, set deep inside a thick forest, sits Houska Castle, considered to be one of the most well-preserved 13th century Gothic castles in the Czech Republic. Houska is a four-story light stone castle set precariously on the edge of a mountain, with a roof gone green with age, an open courtyard in the center, and a winding road from the front door down through to the bottom of the mountain. It is said to have been built on orders of Ottokar II of Bohemia (1253–1278), possibly to be used as an administrative center to manage the extensive royal estates. Eventually, it was sold to the aristocracy, undergoing a Renaissance-style modification between 1584 and 1590. Houska continued to chance hands multiple times throughout its long history, with prolonged periods of inoccupancy in between owners.
By the 18th century, it had fallen into a state of disrepair due to its occupants having left, remaining that way until 1823 when it was renovated yet again. In 1897, Houska was purchased by Princess Hohenlohe, being sold again in 1924 to Josef Simonek, the President of Skoda. To this day, the castle remains in the ownership of his descendants.
Houska was built deep within a forest with no external fortification, no kitchen, and with no water source other than a cistern to collect rainwater. Combined with its distance from any trade routes, many believe Houska was not built as a protective sanctuary or as a residence, causing many legends to persist. And with a nearly 800-year history and multiple owners that included royalty and businessmen, it is little wonder that Houska Castle has accumulated at least a few ghost stories and urban legends, with people’s imaginations running wild in order to create their own answers to these questions. Because even a seemingly impossible answer is better than no answer at all.
The Legend:
The Czech Republic is full of fantastic legends from as far back as human memory can go, and it is from this long history of folk tales, and from the fact that the castles fortified walls face in, as if trying to keep something within the walls from getting out, that Houska Castle’s most infamous tale came from.
Nearly from the time that Houska was built, or more specifically, from the time that its chapel was built, it has been reputed that the chapel covers over a “gateway to Hell”. Described as a large hole that seems to have no bottom, it is said that half-animal, half-human creatures would crawl out of the hole at night. Black winged beings were said to attack locals and drag them down into the hole, and even to this day, visitors claim to hear scratching coming from the lower floors at night, as if the creatures of the pit are trying to claw their way out. Others have reported hearing a demonic chorus of screams from beneath the heavy wood floors.
The most widely known legend about Houska’s “gateway to Hell” comes from when the castle was first being built. As is human nature, people were curious about what, exactly, the pit contained and just how deep it really was. Using 13th century problem solving skills, a deal was made with local death row prisoners. Anyone who agreed to be lowered into the pit and report back on what they saw would be given a pardon. A volunteer eventually came forward, was tied to a rope and lowered into the hole. Within seconds, the man’s horrified screams rang out from the pit and he was quickly pulled back up. But it was too late, for when he finally emerged, still screaming, it is said that he had seemingly aged 30 years, his hair having turned white and his skin as wrinkled as a man twice his age. The man had lost his mind, babbling about demons and horrifying creatures, and had to be taken to an asylum, dying two days later without ever having recovered from his experience. With no other willing volunteers, the pit was quickly sealed below the chapel, never to be explored.
To seemingly add credence to the legend of the pit, a rather unusual fresco adorns the chapel wall. While still containing many well-known biblical scenes, such as the Archangel Michael weighing souls at the Last Judgement and the Crucifixion, it also depicts seemingly demonic creatures, like those that supposedly live inside the pit, and even a female centaur depicted as a left-handed archer. According to Prague Monitor, this is significant because “the images of a centaur, a female archer, or a left-handed individual are extremely rare in Christian settings” (praguemonitor.com).
But daemons, winged creatures and a left-handed female centaur archer are not the only things that help to give Houska a notorious reputation. Now, enter the Nazis.
On March 16, 1939, Adolf Hitler took full and official control of Czechoslovakia with the proclamation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, made from Prague Castle. Soon, Houska would fall into Nazi hands and rumors soon started about whey they had wanted the castle and what, exactly, they were using it for.
Anyone who has delved into the Nazi’s and their fascination with the occult will probably already have an idea of what made Houska such a desirable location to them. While it is still debated to this day how much Hitler himself believed in the occult, it has been well documented that one of the most senior Nazi members, and the main architect of the Holocaust, Heinrich Himmler, was a fervent believer in the occult and mysticism, and that this life-long fascination heavily influenced Himmler in both his professional and personal life. Taking control of a centuries old castle in the middle of the Czech woods that supposedly hid a gateway to Hell would have been a dream come true for Himmler and his occult cronies.
Stories stared coming out that the Nazi’s occupying Houska were using it to conduct inhuman experiments, hoping to harness the castle’s evil for themselves. Many locals and prisoners of war were taken to the castle, never to be seen again, victims of yet another Nazi atrocity. When the Nazi’s left sometime in 1944, they destroyed all evidence of what had gone on inside of Houska’s walls, taking the truth with them.
Many visitors to the castle today still claim to hear unearthly screams and scratching coming from below the castle’s floors. The unusual placement and architecture still baffle many who come to wander its halls, and the frescoes still spook a good number of those who look upon them. Strange shadows can be seen roaming the thick woods that surround Houska, and even an occasional ghost will make a surprise appearance.
The Reality:
The legends surrounding Houska Castle are fantastical to say the least, stories perfectly honed to tell around a campfire or on a dark and stormy night. And while the real story of Houska Castle may not send shivers down your spine, or leave you unable to sleep at night, it is nonetheless equally impressive.
It is true, no matter which version you subscribe to, that Houska has no real strategic value. There are no fortified walls, no easily accessible water source, and it did not sit near any trade routes. So why build it other than to contain a pit to Hell? Easy. In the 13th century, if someone built something, anything, on lad not already claimed, that land become their property, a rich person’s version of squatters rights. And any land, even heavily forested land on a rocky mountain, was better than no land at all. This also explains that lack of a kitchen. Houska was not originally meant to be lived in, so there was no reason to add an expensive kitchen on to it.
But what about those strange frescoes’ inside the chapel? They are truly strange and unusual, no matter where or when they were painted, or for what purpose. But that doesn’t mean that they are unheard of. Other castles have similar paintings upon their walls, and artists throughout history have enjoyed mixing biblical scenes with mystical creatures and legends of old. Unfortunately, the artists name, and their reasoning for the depictions within the frescoes, have been lost to time.
And while it is true that the Nazi’s did occupy Houska during World War II, it was not used for occult experimentation. At the beginning of the occupation, Houska may have been used as part of the Lebensborn program, an SS-initiated and state-supported program where “racially pure” women gave birth to children fathered by select SS men, in order to help build up the Aryan race. Houska would have housed the usually unwed mothers until they gave birth, a comfortable place where they could eat good food and enjoy ample leisure time. Soon enough, however, Houska became a depository for books stolen from Jewish libraries, a place to hold them until it could be decided what to do with them. But, like the Nazi occult legend that still persists, all the documentation of what really happened at Houska was destroyed when the Nazi’s abandoned the castle in 1944.
Conclusion:
Today, Houska Castle is a tourist attraction, an easy trip from Prague. There is no public transportation, so visitors are required to either rent or hire a car to get out to the remote castle. The building is still as beautiful as ever, aging like a fine wine into its 8th century of existence. The historical significance of this beautiful landmark cannot be overstated, and combined with the many legends that still draw people to it, Houska Castle will continue to be a hidden gem in the woods of the Czech Republic.
