Starý Rybník

Lives up to its name

Starý Rybník is a complex of ruins of a Gothic castle, an Empire chateau and a farmstead on the edge of the village of the same name near the town of Skalná in the Cheb district. The original castle burned down in 1792 and after the fire it was replaced as a manor house in the first half of the nineteenth century by a chateau. It has been protected as a cultural monument since 1963. It is first mentioned in 1364 as the property of Jan Rabe of Mechelsgrün. This family also owned Skalná Castle.

Ruins of the Starý Rybník Castle

Professor Tomáš Durdík believes that the castle could have stood here much earlier.

“In the years 1358–1364, Johann Rabe from Mechelsgrün built a new castle in Starý Rybník. Its name, Altenteich, already shows that it was a water castle. It is first mentioned on Johann’s seal attached to a deed dated March 25, 1364. In it, the Rab family, namely Eberhard Rabe and his mother Kunigunda, partly brothers Heinrich and Heidenreich from Skalná and Johann Rabe von Altenteich, sell two-thirds of the tithe from the village of Vojtanov to the commander of the Teutonic Knights and the parish priest of Cheb, Eckhard von Langenlohe. The order already owned the remaining third before that… The construction of the castle was a relatively financially demanding affair. Johann Rabe obtained the necessary funds as a mercenary in the service of Emperor Charles IV, who then had his wages paid by the city of Cheb.” (Karel Halla)

According to historians, the Starý Rybník water castle was built in 1358–1364, but castleologists believe it was an older structure:

“The castle was built in two construction stages. The entire perimeter wall with the cellar of the southern wing, reinforced with round turrets and illuminated by pointed windows with trefoil tracery, was built at the end of the 13th or 14th century. In the mid-15th century, perhaps after partial demolition, the present building with a characteristic layout around an enclosed courtyard was built on the ruins of the older building.” (Dobroslava Menclová)

The castle functioned as a manor house until the end of the 18th century. In 1792, it was struck by lightning and a devastating fire completed the work of destruction. The owners at the time built a new Empire chateau. Today, the castle complex is in private hands.