Classical sculpture of Andromeda being rescued by Perseus in the courtyard of Książ Castle (Zamek) among a number of statues that line the approach to the castle entrance.
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Ksi%C4%85%C5%BC" class="extiw" title="w:en:Książ">Książ</a> is a castle in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Wa%C5%82brzych" class="extiw" title="w:en:Wałbrzych">Wałbrzych</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Lower_Silesian_Voivodeship" class="extiw" title="w:en:Lower Silesian Voivodeship">Lower Silesian Region</a> of Poland. It was built in 1288-1292 under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Bolko_I_the_Strict" class="extiw" title="w:en:Bolko I the Strict">Bolko I</a>. It lies within a protected area called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Ksi%C4%85%C5%BC_Landscape_Park" class="extiw" title="w:en:Książ Landscape Park">Książ Landscape Park</a> and overlooks the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Pe%C5%82cznica_(river)" class="extiw" title="w:en:Pełcznica (river)">Pełcznica River</a>.<br>
The original fortification was destroyed in the year 1263 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Ottokar_II_of_Bohemia" class="extiw" title="w:en:Ottokar II of Bohemia">Ottokar II of Bohemia</a>. Bolko I ‘The Strict’, Duke of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:_%C5%9Awidnica" class="extiw" title="w:en: Świdnica">Świdnica</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Jawor" class="extiw" title="w:en:Jawor">Jawor</a>, built a new castle between 1288 and 1292. Duke <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Bolko_II_of_%C5%9Awidnica" class="extiw" title="w:en:Bolko II of Świdnica">Bolko II of Świdnica</a> died in 1368 without having children with his wife Agnes von Habsburg. After her death the castle was obtained by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Wenceslaus,_King_of_the_Romans" class="extiw" title="w:en:Wenceslaus, King of the Romans">King Wenceslaus IV</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Kingdom_of_Bohemia" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kingdom of Bohemia">Bohemia</a> in 1392 then by Janko from Chociemice in 1401. The Bohemian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Hussites" class="extiw" title="w:en:Hussites">Hussites</a> occupied the castle between 1428 and 1429. In the year 1464 Birka from Nasiedla obtained the castle from the Bohemian crown and then sold it to Hans von Schellendorf. This second castle was destroyed in 1482 by Georg von Stein and in the year 1509 Konrad I von Hoberg (from 1714: Hochberg) obtained the castle hill. After rebuilding and further destruction during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Thirty_Years%27_War" class="extiw" title="w:en:Thirty Years' War">Thirty Years' War</a> Książ castle was rebuilt in 1648 on garden terraces in the French style.  The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Baroque" class="extiw" title="w:en:Baroque">Baroque</a> reconstruction was commissioned by Konrad Ernst Maximilian von Hochberg in the years 1705-1732. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Duchy_of_Pless" class="extiw" title="w:en:Duchy of Pless">Hochberg</a> family owned the castle until the 1940s.<br>
The castle was seized by the Nazi regime in 1944 because the Prince of Pless, Hans Heinrich XVII, had moved to England in 1932 and become a British citizen; also his brother <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Alexander_Hochberg" class="extiw" title="w:en:Alexander Hochberg">Count Alexander of Hochberg</a> who was a Polish citizen and the owner of Schloss Pleß (today <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Pszczyna_Castle" class="extiw" title="w:en:Pszczyna Castle">Pszczyna Castle</a>), had joined the Polish army.  “Fürstenstein” castle was a part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Project_Riese" class="extiw" title="w:en:Project Riese">Riese Project</a> until it was occupied by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Red_Army" class="extiw" title="w:en:Red Army">Red Army</a> in 1945 after which countless artefacts were removed or destroyed. <br><span style="color:blue;"><i>The <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist/Poland" class="mw-redirect" title="User:Scotch Mist/Poland">Scotch Mist Gallery</a> contains many photographs of historic buildings, monuments and memorials of Poland.</i></span><br></p>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pl:Ksi%C4%85%C5%BC" class="extiw" title="w:pl:Książ">Zamek Książ</a>. <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist/Poland" class="mw-redirect" title="User:Scotch Mist/Poland">Galeria Mist Scotch</a> zawiera wiele zdjęć zabytkowych budowli, pomników i miejsc pamięci w Polsce.
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist" title="User:Scotch Mist">Scotch Mist</a>
CC BY-SA 4.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>