Fulnek Castle, Renaissance château in Fulnek, Czech Republic

Fulnek Castle is a château in the center of Fulnek, Czech Republic, made up of a Renaissance building from the 1500s and a Baroque wing added in the 1700s. The two parts stand side by side and form a compact compound with old gates, stone walls, and windows that clearly show two different building periods.

The estate was first recorded in 1293, when the Lords of Lichtenburg received the land from the Bohemian king. Over the following centuries it passed through several owners and was rebuilt twice, once in Renaissance style and later with a Baroque addition.

The castle's name and the town's German name, Fulneck, appear in records from 1293, when the estate belonged to the Lords of Lichtenburg. The Upper Castle stands on the site of a 14th-century castle of the Lords of Kravař, first mentioned in 1372; the Lower Castle grew from its bailey and housed estate offices, officials' flats and an inn.

The castle sits in the heart of Fulnek's old town and is easy to reach on foot from the surrounding streets. Walking around the outside gives a clear view of how the two building phases fit together within the town's historic core.

The four-winged Upper Castle with its tall tower kept that form after the Thirty Years' War, when a Swedish garrison held Fulnek until 1650 and left the building practically uninhabitable. A fire in 1801 destroyed most of it, and only the east wing was rebuilt, under the Liechtenstein builder Jan Mihatsch.