The original Vimperk castle was founded around the half of the 13th century as a guard fortress above the Golden Path leading from Bavaria to Bohemia. The castle passed through the hands of many noble families – Janovic, Kaplíř of Sulevice, Malovec of Chýnov, and fi nally Jáchym of Hradec. Vimperk was then bought by the Rožmberks who rebuilt this inhospitable castle into a Renaissance chateau where they moved during the plague. A significant period was the era of the Novohradský family of Kolovraty at the beginning of the 17th century, who are the authors of the unique painted ceilings. The Vimperk domain was then sold to the Eggenbergs, then aft er their death to the Schwarzenbergs, who owned the castle until 1947. The last extensive reconstruction of the castle in its current appearance was carried out aft er 1857, when the castle was damaged by fire after being struck by lightning. In 1948, the castle became the property of the town, and in 1991 it was bought by the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic. In 2010, the castle became a national cultural monument and since January 2015 has been administered by the National Heritage Institute.
Attraction:
The Upper Castle is currently undergoing an overall renovation as part of a project called the Wakening of the Winter Castle. At the end of 2020, visitors can look forward to an extended and modernized exhibition of the Vimperk Region Museum that will recall the architectural development of the castle and everyday life at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries as well as a tourist center.