Hrad Červený Kameň

Hrad Červený Kameň

Hrad Červený Kameň (Častá / Slovakia)Častá, Slovakia The first mention of Red Stone Castle was in the first half of the 13th century. The castle was built at a request of Queen Konstancia Uhorska, the widow of the Czech king, on her own land before 1240. At the same time the castle got the name – Red Stone (Cerveny Kamen in Slovak, Rothenstein in German, Vorosko in Hungarian) or Beaver Castle.The castle was originally held by the Crown and later passed into the ownership of Matus Cak Trenciansky and a number of families including Zapolski, Turzo and the counts of Svaty Jur and Pezinok.According to the heirship the castle and estate passed from the hands of Queen Maria Habsburg, the wife of the Austria-Hungarian King Ludovit II Jagel to the Fugger family.Despite the fact, the two noble families played the most significant role in the history of the castle. It was the German family of Fugger and the Austria-Hungarian family of Palfi.The Fugger family obtained the castle from the previous owner and business partner, the Turzo family. This was how the red-stone estate and the gothic castle became a property (year 1535) of one of the richest business families of former Europe.Anton Fugger, the head of the family, was not only educated but also rich, capable businessman coming from the South-German town of Ausburg. He decided to utilize the strategic position of Red Stone, situated close to Bratislava and Vienna and transform the old gothic castle into a safe storehouse for goods traded across the whole Europe. Rebuilding the medieval castle into the renaissance fortress required an investment of a lot of money and time. Since 1537 the castle was gradually demolished as to clear an area for construction of four defensive bastions connected with walls and a single residential wing. 

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