Paleček’s Castle

Paleček’s Castle („Palečkův hrad“) is a model of a Gothic castle, about 150 centimeters high, the remains of which still stands across the street from the Řetízkárna in the area of the former Rovnost uranium mine. Shrouded in prisoner legends and historical speculation, the building is a prominent feature of Jáchymov mythology. Journalists and some former political prisoners have proposed that the structure was built by prisoners in the last months of the camp’s operation under the instruction of Chief František Paleček, the particularly esoteric and sadistic commander of the Rovnost camp. To date, however, no prisoner has confirmed that they personally worked on the construction of the model, and incomplete archival records mean that it is currently impossible to confirm when the castle was built and by whom.

Allegedly built to beautify the camp assembly square, Paleček’s Castle’s castle stands as a monument to the strange realities of the Jáchymov mines, where enslaved prisoners, the camp guards and commanders, and well paid and cared for civilian miners and technicians worked together for twelve years.

Documenting the PALEČEK’S CASTLE site

While the Rovnost mine was operational, Paleček’s Castle stood in the middle of a square formed by buildings in the civilian sections of the mining complex. During the construction of recreational trails on the grounds surrounding the Rovnost mine, excavators discovered the concrete foundations of these buildings surrounding the ruins of Paleček’s Castle.

The National Institute of Monuments in Loket has since published details from the survey of the area, where archaeologists carried out detailed documentation of the so-called Paleček’s Castle site. In a strip about 4 meters wide and about 85 meters long, it was possible to document the material foundations of the employee canteen that was clearly visible on a historical aerial photograph from 1953.

As rubble and soil were removed by the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Arts of the West Bohemian University in Pilsen, the floor and the south-eastern wall of the building were revealed, helping historians to confirm the accuracy of aerial photographs and other documents concerning the layout of the now-destroyed mining site.

Žádný titulek

Tzv. Palečkův hrad, Jáchymov, Rovnost I. by NPU_LOKET on Sketchfab