Bouzov Castle Bouzov Castle ( ) is an early 14th - century fortress first mentioned in 1317 . It was built on a hill between the village of Hvozdek and the town of Bouzov , 21 km west of Litovel and 28 km northwest of Olomouc , in Moravia , Czech Republic . The castle has been used in a number of film productions lately , including " Arabela " , " Fantaghirò " , and " Before the Fall " . History . Owners . Bouzov was established at the turn of the 14th century with the purpose to watch over the trade route from Olomouc to Loštice . The minor aristocratic Bůz of Bludovec family were its first recorded owners from 1317 - 1339 . The castle also takes its name from the family . Ownership of the castles was then changed , and the Lords of Kunštát were among the most important medieval owners . According to tradition , the Bouzov castle is often connected with name of the most famous member of this noble dynasty , Jiří z Poděbrady was born in Bouzov in 1420 and was crowned Czech King in 1458 . His original title was Jiří of Kunštát and Bouzov . In 1558 the castle burned down , and lost much of its majestic quality . In the course of centuries there were several changes of proprietors ; the castle was owned by the lords of Vildenberk , margrave Jošt , the Haugvic and the Pod Štatský families , and in 1696 the barony was bought by the grand master of the Teutonic Order , the Rhenish palsgrave Fanciscus Ludovicus . Vildenberks period . As various noble families changed possession of Bouzov , in a similar way also its appearance was changed from an early gothic castle to a Renaisssance style . In the time of the lords of Bouzov , the castle played mostly a defensive and guarding role . It probably consisted of a tower and rampart and wooden dwelling houses . The Vildenberks built a stony manor on the western side which was taller than the rampart . Already in the 14th century the castle was significantly widened - a settlement with outhouses was constructed with a ditch and circumvallation , rampart with a 200 - foot - high ( 61 m tall ) watchtower and a moat wall built around the castle . During the rule of the Kunštát family , the manor was fortified with a new connected rampart with two bastion s , and the moat wall was rebuilt with five round bastions . Later a round gun - bastion was erected and the tallest watchtower was repaired . From the 15th to 19th century . In 1408 the castle passed into the hands of Viktorin of Bouzov . In 1499 the Haugvics started the construction of a palace on the eastern side and connected the northern and southern dwelling building . In the first half of the 15th century t was converted into a Hussite stronghold , serving as a prison for captured Swedes during the Thirty Years war . In the second half of the 16th century the castle burned out and remained uninhabited . About a hundred years later , the reconstruction of the castle began again with the remodeling of the southern wing . At that time the castle had already lost its defensive function and became an utterly dwelling object . With the arrival of the Teutonic Order , during the 18th century the castle also lost this function . Only the building in the outer settlement remained inhabited , and by the end of the 19th century the ruin of the castle became a tourist goal . Habsburgs period . The castle gained today ' s appearance after massive Neo - gothic reconstruction between 1895 and 1910 . The Grand Master of the Order of the Teutonic Knights from 1799 to 1939 , archduke Eugen Habsburg , decided to rebuilt it in the Romantic , predoninantly Neo - Gothic style , according to the plans of the prominent architects of its time Georg von Hauberisser ( 1841 – 1922 ) of the Munich Polytechnic University ; he was the author of Munich and Saarbrücken ' s town - halls , and also very influential as builder of churches like the St . Paul ' s church in Munich . The alterations were carried out with the intention of making part of the castle open to the public . Bouzov was fitted with modern furnishings and equipment , including running water and central heating . The order was abolished in 1939 and the castle was confiscated by the fascists , occupied and looted by the Nazis during the WW II . The castle was acquired by the Chief of the Gestapo R . Himmler , who forced the Strahov Monastery to sell it to him for one million crowns , as a present to A . Hitler . Hauberrisser ' s reconstruction of the Bouzov castle is unique in the was given tocontext of European romantic architecture . After 1989 the Order of Teutonic Knights expressed an interest in the castle , but their request to have it returned to them has so far been rejected . Description . An eight - storey watchtower , 58 meters high , dominates the complex . The buildings are grouped around it in the form of a horseshoe , and the castle is enhanced by a number of towers , and among other things , bastions , battlements , oriel windows and loopholes . The two long bridges , ending with a short drawbridge , span the deep dry moat around the castle . The knights ' hall , armoury , which is in one of the few original rooms with preserved Gothic vaulting , bedrooms of the knights and a neo - gothic chapel with its Gothic altar and tombs occupy the central part of the castle . The valuable furniture comes from the private collection of Eugen von Habsburg and the collection of the Order of the Teutonic Knights . Since 1999 the castle has been a national monument .