Official sources say about this castle:
But this is a dry reality, with a detailed study of this architectural structure, too many questions arise, namely:
- Why would anyone need to build a castle in the middle of the forest, far from roads and trade routes? In terms of functionality, this place did not represent any strategic interests.
- Why most of the windows in the castle are fake, if you look closely you will see through them - the walls of the castle. The windows are false.
- Why do all the loopholes in the castle go out into the courtyard of the castle on the walled up well? In any fortification, loopholes are always directed outside, through which the defenders fire against the enemy.
- Why are both wells of the castle tightly concreted? Why should the owners of the castle deprive themselves of their only source of life?
- Why did the Nazis choose the castle so much during the war, making it their residence? What interested Ahnenerbe so much in Gouska?
- The chronicles claim that there was a garrison in the castle on a permanent basis, but strategically it was pointless, because the borders of the Czech state were far from here.
There are a lot of questions, but there are no intelligible answers to them to this day. I will not say that visitors to the castle often lose consciousness, that the dogs completely refuse to enter the building, and near the chapel, to this day, since the construction of the castle, dead birds are found. Here, throughout history, the servants of the castle disappeared without a trace.
Gouska Castle. Chapel.
There was no full-fledged kitchen in Gouska, eyewitnesses saw strange creatures, the walls of the chapel were decorated with scenes uncharacteristic for European castles of the Middle Ages, biblical scenes of the battle of angels with demons, as well as a scene of the Archangel Michael at the Last Judgment, etc.
Legend
According to legend, in the forked dungeon of the castle, there is a gate to the underworld, and the shortest path is through a well. The former owners of the castle did not feel particularly comfortable in this place, they heard the groans coming from the dungeon constantly, they watched the birds falling dead in the vicinity and decided to check how fair human beliefs about the gates to hell are. In those years, such issues were resolved quite quickly, - the owners on a rope lowered the thieving thirty-year-old servant into the dungeon, promising to forgive him if he was not afraid and told everything he saw there. And when they got him out of there, a couple of hours later, it was a gray-haired old man who said that he had seen the devil and that hell was much worse.
Promotional video:
Courtyard well. Gouska Castle.
How everything was in reality
You can continue to ask questions indefinitely, but we will not stoop to believe in the most popular and naive story that under the castle there are gates to hell and the fortress was created precisely in order to defend not from external enemies, but from internal, located underground.
I must admit that Gouska is indeed a rather strange place, not typical for buildings of that time, but the castle was not built for fortification purposes, but most likely was planned as a secluded residence.
There were no casual guests, travelers, and other itinerant knights in the castle - hence the seemingly illogical construction in this place. It is known for certain that the owner, founder of Přemysl Ottkar II, kept his savings in Gousk, simply because many troubles that took place at that time did not allow him to keep his wealth in the main residence. Naturally, he stored his goods in the dungeon, and so that there were no temptations from the servants, a legend about hell was invented, etc. The population in those days was overly trusting, in other matters, as now, so that no one had any desire to frolic with the royal good.
As for the walled up windows, the castle was rebuilt several times, under new owners, and of course it is not surprising that some rooms were walled up, some became larger, and with this the need for some windows disappeared completely.
Internal loopholes in the walls - since the castle was not a defensive structure against external enemies, there was no point in making external loopholes, but there is evidence in the annals that the builders and disgruntled servants periodically raised a riot, through the internal loopholes, the riot was effectively suppressed.
The Nazis' interest in this place also does not seem surprising, Ahnenerbe was looking for the so-called "places of power" all over the world in Greenland, Antarctica and India, but there was no evidence that anything was found in Gouske.
Anomalies with falling birds are well known today, but there are many of these phenomena around the world, to a large extent this is due to changes in the earth's magnetic field, especially where iron ore layers lie close to the earth's surface. By the way, Gouska is such a place. From here, tourists who feel bad and have no desire for animals is inside the chapel.
In the whole story connected with Goska, I personally am surprised by the plots of the frescoes on the walls. They are not typical of that time and are quite surprising with their storyline. Namely, an unusual procession of people tied in a chain, walking towards the castle. The processions are guarded by large black and red dogs.
A fresco from the wall of the Gouska castle.
But most likely, the plots of the frescoes were, to a greater extent, aimed at intimidating the servants.
I must admit the place is eerie, creaks, groans, all this is - simply because this is an old building. Impose gloomy legends about gates to hell, falling birds, walled wells and oppressive atmosphere, etc. is the perfect set for an endless flow of tourists.