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History of the Castle Jánský Vrch
The castle Jánský Vrch, the only accessible historical monument in the Jeseník district, is dominating the city's historical zone, together with the landscape park. It stands on a rocky hill above the city of Javorník, which you will find at the northest edge of North Moravia, in the former area of Silesia. Its history has begun probably already in the 2nd half of the 13th century. At that time, a castle was built in an advantageous spot above the Javorník settlement. The Javorník castle is mentioned in written sources for the first time in the year 1307. Then, it was property of the Princes of Svidník. In the year 1348, they handed it over to the Vratislav Bishop Przeclav of Pogarel. Since that time, the castle has, with some smaller breaks, been part of the great area belonging to the Bishop of Wroclaw (Breslau).
During the 15th century, the castle was damaged considerably and that not only by the Hussite wars but mainly by an unlucky intervention of the Episcopate – it had its fortification broken down, so that it could not become a fortress for a possible enemy. Large-scale repairs and rebuilding of the castle started under the bishop Jan Roth at the end of the 15th century. The late-gothic phase was completed in the year 1509 by Roth's successor – the Bishop Jan Thurza. During these changes, the building's name was also changed, to Jánský Vrch, to honor the patron of the Wroclaw Bishops, John the Christener. The embossed stone plates documenting this phase of development and the renaming can still be found on the castle's walls.
The original fortified castle was rebuilt definitely into a baroque castle under the Episcopate of the Bishop Philipp Gothard Schaffgotsch (1716-1795). In his residence, the Bishop surrounded himself by many important personalities, especially from the field of music. In the year 1769, he called to his castle the composer, great violinist and conductor Karl Ditters of Dittersdorf and Jánský Vrch soon became the centre of the musical life of the whole Silesia. During almost thirty years of staying at Javorník, Ditters composed about fourty comical operas, so becoming one of the founders of this genre in the German realm. The castle's musical tradition related to this personality is still being kept alive by the annual Karla Ditters of Dittersdorf Festival or by small concerts taking place as part of the Castle Summer of Culture at the castle's concert hall.
After the death of Bishop Schaffgotsch, Bishop Joseph Krystian Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bartenstein took over the office. He must be mentioned because of the constructional changes taking place already in the spirit of the castle's new purpose – in the beginning of the 19th century it became a summer residence. The building's positive role as a centre of sholarship and culture was further developed in the coming years. In the years 1856 and 1857, the poet Joseph von Eichendorff, a representative of the German Romantism, visited the castle two times. To honor him, the stone lookout in front of the castle was named by him.
In the year 1959, the castle Jánský Vrch was borrowed to the state. It could be fully nationalized only after property compensation between the Polish and Czech Catholic church in September of 1984. It is now under the administration of the National Monument Institute in Olomouc. Since January 1st, 2002, the building has been on the list of national cultural monuments.
