Strzelce Opolskie Castle

Empty windows, ivy on the walls and a pale tower above the park — this is how the former seat of the dukes of Strzelce, and later of the Colonna and Renard counts, has looked since 21 January 1945. Strzelce Opolskie Castle burned down together with almost the entire town centre and was never rebuilt, although there has been no shortage of plans. The ruin stands in a historic park a few minutes from the market square, and entry to the park is free.

History: from hunting lodge to residence

Strzelce lay on the Kraków–Wrocław trade route, and the first settlement housed the duke's archers (strzelcy), who guarded the road and used a wooden hunting lodge. A masonry castle was probably built after a fire in 1273; the first mention of Castrum Strelecense comes from the Wrocław bishopric's register of the early 14th century. It was a compact limestone tower measuring 16.1 × 13.9 m with walls up to 190 cm thick. In 1323 Strzelce became the capital of an independent duchy, and Duke Albert rebuilt the castle and surrounded the town with walls that incorporated the castle's southern side.

When the Opole branch of the Piast dynasty died out, the castle was in ruins. From 1562 the leaseholder Georg von Redern spent more than three decades rebuilding it, until 1596 — the town council funded 40,000 bricks. From 1651 the Colonna counts ruled here for over 150 years; land records from 1786 state that every shoemaker owed the castle a pair of boots a year, and bakers had to bake a wheat plait loaf for the holidays.

The Renards' golden age and the fire

After 1815 the estate passed to Andreas Maria von Renard, an industrialist who owned 22 ironworks and was the second-largest iron producer in Upper Silesia. He made the castle his family seat: in 1840 he extended the west wing, added the distinctive tower and stables for thoroughbred horses, and from 1832 laid out a landscape park with an orangery, a pineapple house and a pheasantry. The last owners, the zu Castell-Castell family, lived here from 1932; Countess Sybilla's memoirs describe dark corridors and rooms named after the colour of their walls. In 1945 Soviet troops set fire to the town, and some 90% of the centre was destroyed.

What to see

• The castle tower from the 19th century — restored in 2018 and best viewed from the park paths.
• The ruined walls with empty windows, covered in red ivy in autumn.
• The town park with old trees — the former Renard park.
• The legend of Elżbieta, daughter of Duke Albert, who married Władysław the White in 1359 and died a year later; her ghost is said to return to the castle. Countess Eufemia Renard had a statue put up for her — in the form of the Roman goddess Ceres, as no one knew what the princess looked like.

Tripto tip

The ruins are seen from outside: the castle is privately owned and the courtyard is fenced off — do not climb the walls. A circuit of the ruins and a stroll in the park take 30–45 minutes; the paths are flat and fine for pushchairs. Plans for a hotel in a rebuilt castle stalled partly because strengthening the foundations would have required driving in about a thousand eight-metre reinforced-concrete piles. Strzelce Opolskie lies on the A4 motorway, about 30 km from Opole, and Góra Świętej Anny (St Anne's Mountain) is a short drive away.