he medieval castle in Lipa in its original Gothic form was probably built at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, although researchers differ on this issue, dating the time of its construction from the end of the 13th to the beginning of the 15th century. We do not know the founder of this building - it is assumed that it was created on the initiative of a representative of one of the Silesian knightly families - but some want its genealogy to be connected with the activities of the Templar Order, which after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem migrated to Europe, including Silesia. The first known owner of the village was Henry von Lipa, mentioned in 1309. Later the estate belonged to several families: Bock, Schirmer, Lauterbach, Schwoinitz, Tschirnau, but around the middle of the 14th century Lipa was divided into three parts, which made it difficult to identify the founder of the castle in the upper part, called Oberfoh. It is supposed that it could have been Caspar von Crakav of the Schwoinitz family and his brother Hans, not very wealthy knights, owners of a local mill and a small manor farm.
CASTLE IN LIPA ON HUBER'S LITHOGRAPHY FROM AROUND 1880
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he castle was extended by members of the von Zedlitz family: Arnestus (1471-1485), Sigismund (1500-1520) or his son Bartel (1520-1549) and his grandson
Anton (1552-1575). In 1580 Anna de domo von Zedlitz handed over all her property in Lipa Górna to her husband Georg von Reibnitz (d. 1611). After the death of his son Hans (d. 1654), Christoph Gottlieb von Nimptsch (d. 1686) bought the village from the creditors of the deceased. However, at the end of the century the castle returned to the family of former owners, because in 1699 it was bought by Gotthard Friedrich von Reibnitz (d. 1714). The building, which was later used by the Jaworian starost
Georg Wilhelm von Reibnitz (d. 1765) and his son Karl Friedrich, was deprived of any defensive significance at that time and clearly collapsed, after which it was abandoned at the end of the 18th century. From now on, it was used mainly for storage and economic purposes, and the segments of buildings were treated as a cheap and convenient source of building material and gradually disassembled. Julius Fischer, the owner of Lipa in the 1820s, had a particularly negative impact on the state of the castle. He ordered the demolition of large parts of the lower castle in order to obtain the raw material for the construction of a distillery, a sheepfold and a barn in his manor farm.
POSTCARD WITH VIEW OF THE CASTLE FROM THE NORTHEAST, 1920S
The oldest preserved note about Lypa settlement dates back to 1300. In the Middle Ages the village was referred to as Lipa (1330), Leipa (1370) and Leipe (1405). Since the middle of the 14th century, when the village was parceled, Ober-, Mittel- and Nieder-Leipe were separated from each other. In the 19th century the name Goldleipe and Kalkleipe functioned, replaced in 1945 with the ad hoc term Lipowe. Only a year later, the name Lipa, which still exists today and refers to the original nomenclature, came into use.
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he castle was saved from total devastation by Count
Rudolph von Stillfried-Rattonitz (d. 1882), a respected lawyer and master of ceremonies of the Prussian royal court, who bought it in 1834 and then rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. In 1841 the estate became the property of the rich merchant Ernst Heinrich Kramst from Bolków, and at the end of the century was bought by the von Sprenger family. After 1917 until the end of the Second World War the castle was probably owned by woman named von Hunerbein and her daughter, named von Drabich-Waechter. Already during the communist era, the building was no longer used and quickly destroyed, which was greatly influenced by the lack of interest and proper care from the authorities. In the 1960s, when the former knight's seat was only a warehouse, some of its windows still contained glass, and the residential buildings had ceilings and a roof. The chance for falling monument appeared in the early 1970s when Bogna Rosnowska Maag, living in Switzerland, bought it. However, the owner's initial enthusiasm weakened with time. Renovation works were stopped, which quickly turned the castle into a beautiful but depressing ruin.
CASTLE IN THE 1980S, VIEW FROM THE WEST
THE SAME PERSPECTIVE, BUT THREE DECADES LATER... (2013)
he castle was built at the periphery of the village, on a hill with steep slopes, above the village road and the terrace of Nysa Szalona river. Such location provided it with favourable defensive facilities and also met the requirement of prestige. In the first phase of its functioning, it consisted of a three-storey residential tower (1) built of stone on a plan similar to a square with sides of 7x7 meters, whose walls in the ground floor reach about 1,5 meters thick, and an oval brick defensive circuit (2) with a moat. The ground level of the tower is vaulted and its tops were finished with decorative patterns of brick
pseudomachicles and crenellation, probably formed during neo-Gothic reconstruction at the beginning of 19th century.
PLAN OF CASTLE RUINS ACCORDING TO J. SAWIŃSKI
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uring the 16th century expansion, a staircase (3) with single-circuit stone steps was added to the tower, and the whole was incorporated into the Renaissance buildings: in the south a house with kitchen was built between the tower and the left part of the old wall (4), in the west - a gate tower (5) situated in the line of the curtain wall, and in the east and north a fortified perimeter was integrated into the natural rocks, but the original layout of it is not clear at present. The complex of residential buildings in the western part of the castle consisted of two main parts: a trapezoidal vaulted room (6) adjacent directly to the old tower and a north-facing two-storey building (7) topped with a steep gable roof, the entrance to which led through an arched stone portal. Although at the end of the 20th century the building was still covered by original roof framing and some tiles,
today there is no trace of them. The usable area of the XVI-century castle was 340 square meters.
CASTLE IN LIPA, AERIAL VIEW
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he most original architectural element here is a rhombus-shaped stone building in the eastern part of the complex, with an area of 70 square metres and a height of 10 metres. It is
the castle kitchen(8), probably built at the beginning of the 16th century, considered the oldest preserved in Silesia, consisting of a spacious ground floor and a pyramid-shaped vault separated from the ceiling. It was formed in this style during the 19th century neo-Gothic reconstruction. In its southern wall
the gutter was built in to drain waste, and inside a cistern carved in the rock with a depth of about 4 meters was hidden.
VIEW FROM THE SOUTH, THE CASTLE KITCHEN ON THE RIGHT
he castle presents a secondary character resulting from the 19th century interference in the older, Gothic-Renaissance form. Practically no repairs or investments were carried out here since the end of the Second World War, and over time the whole area was increasingly covered with weed. Not long ago, some buildings had roofs, windows, doors and decorated portals. However, only a dozen or so recent years have been enough for everything of greater value to be stolen, damaged or irretrievably destroyed. Fortunately, the discreet charm of the old stronghold was noticed and, on the initiative and with participation of volunteers, after 2015 it was cleared of overgrowing plants and trees threatening it, and now (2019) works are underway to secure the walls and even
partially reconstruct them. It is not planned to fully rebuild the castle, but only to bring it to a state of so-called permanent ruin. The castle is a private property. It can be viewed from the outside.
You won't enter the castle either with or without your dog. But that doesn't mean that you can't come here together and enjoy the view of the castle from the outside.
To the southwest of the castle, there is plenty of space to launch and land your drone. There are some residential buildings adjacent to the ruin to the north.
CASTLE IN LIPA, 2008
HOW TO GET THERE?
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he village is located at the crossroads of local roads Jawor-Kaczorów and Bolków-Świerzawa. The ruin is situated in the southern part of the village, on the eastern side of the road, about 300 meters away from the church. In order to get there, at the second crossroads (counting from the church) turn into a large courtyard and follow the path leading directly to the castle. You can also
park your car 200 metres further on the asphalt road and then climbing the ground road leading to the ruins. (map of castles in Lower Silesia)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. M. Chorowska: Rezydencje średniowieczne na Śląsku, OFPWW 2003
2. L. Kajzer, J. Salm, S. Kołodziejski: Leksykon zamków w Polsce, Arkady 2001
3. R. Łuczyński: Zamki, dwory i pałace w Sudetach, SWA 2008
4. A. M. Rosiek: Siedziby rycerskie w księstwie świdnicko-jaworskim do końca XIV wieku, Kraków 2010
THE RUIN UNDER REPAIR AND SECURITY WORK, SUMMER 2019
Castles nearby: Świny - the ruins of knight's castle from 14th century, 7 km Bolków - the ruins of Duke's castle from 13th century, 10 km
Stara Kraśnica - fortified mansion from 17th century, in ruins, 10 km
Myślibórz - relics of the castle from 13/14th century, 13 km
Kłaczyna - relics of the castle from 15th century, 15 km Płonina - the ruins of knight's castle from 14th century, 15 km
Sędziszowa - residential tower from 14/15th century, 16 km
Wojcieszów - relics of the castle from 13/14th century, 16 km Jawor - Duke's castle from 13/14th century, altered, 18 km
