Sovinec Sovinec ( ) is a castle situated on a cone - shaped hill located in the south - west parts of the Rešov hilly region of Bruntál District , in North Moravia , Czech Republic . History . Lords of Sovinec ( " Páni ze Sovince " ) . In the second half of the 13th century , due to their attempts tat colonizing the mountains , the Olomouc bishops came into conflict with the Jeseníky landlords . Because of the pressure from Olomouc , the brothers Vok and Pavel of the traditional Moravian family of Hrutovic , and who later called themselves of " Huzová " , built a castle in Sovinec in the years 1329 - 1332 to mark the border of their territory . Even in the first half of the 14th century the Sovinec dynasty translated its name into the equivalent German Eulenburg , they remained the same ancient moravian branch of the Czech Hurtovic dynasty with their own insignia . From the second half of the 14th century they used either their German or their Czech name , and the latter prevailed since the 15th century . According to Ctibor Tovačovský of Cimburk ' s legal work , the lords of Sovinec belonged to the 15 oldest Moravian ruling families such as the Boskovics , the Cimburks , and the Pernštejns . They had privilleged status over all the other ruling families in the area , held the highest positions and took part in all important issues . As a proof of this might , the signature and seal of Petr of Sovinec is visible on the protest letter which Czech and Moravian noblemen wrote in the occasion of the burning of Jan Hus . Sovinec was also an important Hussite stronghold which endangered even catholic Olomouc . And it is not by chance that Sovinec was chosen as the meeting place for the important political discussions between Prokop Holý , leader of the Hussite army and Zikmund Korybutovič , a candidate for the Czech throne . The lords of Sovinec were strong supporters of the King Jiří z Poděbrady , famous for his attempts at uniting all European monarchs , in his efforts to include Silesia in his project . Due to their political activity , Mathias Corvin destroyed the lands of the Sovinec dynasty in August 1474 . As testified in 1490 in the Land Codex in the second half of the 15th century , Sovinec was the centre of a strong and united rule consisting of one city and 18 villages , ranging from Paseka in the plains through nearby Rýmařov to Štáhly on the mountains . The watchtower of the Sovinec castle dates back to this era , and one can still see the Sovinec insignia engraved in its stone . The walls of the fortified village of Sovinec also dates back to that time . 16th and 17th centuries . In the beginning of the 16th century Sovinec and the entire territory belonging to it had been savagely pillaged . The ensuing period of peace allowed for prosperity and industry . Theroughout the entire Sovinec territory , half empty and abandoned villages were resettled . In 1492 the related family of the Pňovskýs , represented by Lešek Pňovský of Sovinec , became landlords of Sovinec , and Ješek was the supreme judge . His son Vok lived in the times when all of Central Europe experienced a mining fever . Jeseníky was invaded by an army of miner s in search of gold and silver . Besides the local feud al searchers , the mining corporations headed by the Augsburg magnates Fugger , took part in the mining activities . Vok Pňovský and Marie of Austria , widow of King Louis , participated in the mining near the village Ruda and Plinkout . Vok , however , led his family to the verge of financial collapse . His son Ješek inherited the indebted lands and tried in vain to fill the treasury with newly mined gold and silver . In 1540 he was forced to sell Sovinec in 1543 to one of the richest Moravian magnates Kryštov of Boskovice and Třebová , who made it into a renaissance residence for his interest in acquiring the mountains full of various ore s and existing machinery . Kryštov energy was not solely dedicated to mining , but also to colonial and industrial activities , continued by his grandson Jan , who not long before his death sold the Sovinec territory to Vavřince Edera ze Štiavnice in 1578 . This owner also developed mining , especially iron ore , which reached its peak between the second half of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries . This era of peace and prosperity left its prints in the castle structures even today . The last lord of Sovinec , in the beginning of the 16th century , altered the central core of the castle by adding late gothic gate wings to it . Key examples of this architectural change are the gothic gate which leads to the inner palace built in the castle ' s fifth courtyard , and the surrounding buildings , as shown in the engraved insignia of Ješek and Jan Pňovský . Under the Boskovics the Renaissance found its expression in the still existing portal leading to what is known as the Boskovický Hall . Vařinec Elder had the servants ' wing built with two ornamental gates of Maletín sandstone . Vařinec daughter Anna married son - in - law Jan starší Kobylka z Kobylího after her father ' s death . Her husband , a fervent Evangelical , having married a number of the rich Elder family , became one of the richest Moravian leaders and was able to climb the ladder of political career very rapidly . He thus became of the thirty Moravian directors which had the power to rule the region during the period of the Uprising of the Estates ( before 1620 ) . After the defeat in the Battle of the White Mountain , Jan starší Kobylka z Kobylího was forced to sell Sovinec on 18 January 1623 to the German Knights Templar for an irrisory sum . From his plain city home in Šternberk he looked with longing to the nearby mountains where in his beautiful and productive land ruled a new lord , one of those who , as a result of the White Mountain confiscations , controlled the vast properties in Northern Moravia and Silesia , and whose unlimited and sever administration found its definitive end only in 1945 . With Kobylka ended the use of the Czech language which had prevailed in the Sovinec castle during the reign of the Boskovic and Elder dynasties . Feeble remainders of the Czech spirit existed only in the various documents and books in the castle archives , which also contained enravings of past Czech rulers ' insignia and mottos . The German administrative apparatus , had all Czech family as well as town and village names changed into German equivalents . In 1626 , during the Thirty Years war Sovinec fell into the hands of the Danish army under Mansfeld . The administrator Klippel was captured and the castle and its surroundings pillaged . Upon his return , Klippel carried out fortification of the castle most intensily between 1642 - 1643 when Northern Moravia was invaded by the Swedish army under general , Torstenson . Part of this fortification was a large round stone tower called " Lichteinsteinka " connected to the castle by an underground passage visible even today . When Tortenson besieged the castle in 1643 , seeking a way from Uničov to Silesia , the importance of the fortification became clear . Half a month after the beginning of the siege , the brave defenders were forced to capitulate to a vast Swedish supremacy . The Swedes gained not only an important strategic position , which they held until the end of the war , but also an imposing treasure . 18th to 21st century . After the Swedish withdrawal in 1650 the castle lost it military significance . The castle was partially renovated after a fire in 1784 , but the damaged fortifications were never repaired , and all the subsequent wars passed it by . The Knights ' Order did not have an interest in expensive repairs on the castle , because in the 18th century the administration concentrated on its properties in Bruntál . Only in 1837 the High Templar had the castle repaired intending to hand it over to the Redemptorists . For some time it was the seat of a boys ' seminarists school . In 1867 Sovinec was the seat of a school of forestry , which was moved into Hranice thirty years later . From then until the World War II , Sovinec became the summer seat of the Templar Order . Its museum contained mostly military objects and its large library counted more than 20 . 000 volumes . The Nazis confiscated Sovinec as church property belonging to the Templars , who had in vain attempted to convince their German successors of their common goal . The darkest period in the history of Sovinec began then . It was turned into a prison , and since 1940 a number of French prisoners of war and antifascists were kept there . A special group of SS had its seat in Sovinec , and hermetically sealed the castle from the outside . Thus the activities of the castle in those last years of the occupation are covered by an impenetrable veil of secrecy and speculation . The truth about this particular period will never be revealed , because in the first days of May 1945 the castle burned down . In 1951 rebuilding of the castle started . It lasted through the 60s and was interrupted several times so that the results were relatively small . The reconstruction went on in the second half of the 90s after the arrival of the new custodian Robert Rác . In 1991 the reconstruction of St . Augustine Church , the watchtower , and the southern wing was completed . The fronts of the entrance gate and the first and third courtyards were repaired as well as the housing units . A wine cellar was opened in the porter ' s lodge and a modern art gallery was established in the castle . The interior of the castle halls is under repair now . The former armory is to be turned into the castle library and also a general repair of the forestry school is intended for the future . From the 1980s , the renowned Czech photographer Jindřich Štreit regularly organizes exhibitions , concerts and theatrical performances at the Sovinec Castle .