On a rocky outcrop in the mountain valley of the Low Jeseník Mountains, about 13 km south of Rýmařov, there is Sovinec Castle, the largest castle complex in the Bruntál district. The castle was founded before 1348 by members of the Hrutovice family, which was called “the Lords of Sovinec” after the castle from 1348. During the Hussite wars, Sovinec became an important Hussite fortress. During the Pňovský of Sovinec, who acquired the castle with the manor in 1492, the castle was expanded and modified. The Lords of Boskovice, who bought the castle in 1543, rebuilt the castle into a Renaissance residence. Extensive construction activities at the castle continued under Vavřinec Eder of Štiavnica, who owned the castle since 1578, and his son-in-law, the last Czech owner of the castle, Jan the Elder Kobylka of Kobylí (from 1592). Some of the fortification elements of the castle also date from this time – a polygonal cannon bastion, a fortification called the Cat’s Head, a barbican with today’s first gate. After the defeat of White Mountain, the castle was awarded to the Order of the Teutonic Knights in 1623. The occupation of the castle by the Danes in 1626 was an impulse for extensive fortification of the castle – by 1643, three Baroque bastions and other bastions were built, new fortification walls, moats and an advanced tower were built; these fortifications of the castle are the largest preserved fortifications from the period of the Thirty Years’ War in our countries. Despite the massive fortifications, the castle was conquered by the Swedish troops of General Torstenson in the autumn of 1643 and made it one of their fortresses until 1650. The importance of the castle declined in the following years and after the fire of 1784, only the most necessary modifications were made. In the 40s of the 19th century, there was an order seminary and from 1867 a forestry school. During World War II, French prisoners of war were imprisoned in the castle. At present, the castle, which burned down in 1945, is gradually being reconstructed.
Visitors to the castle are open to the 1st-3rd and 7th courtyards and the so-called Upper Castle. The Upper Castle (the oldest part of the castle) with a lookout tower overlooking the beautiful landscape of the Sovinec Nature Park. In the former stables, there are exhibitions about the history of the castle and the forestry school in Sovinec.
