Osek Castle

Osek Castle sits at the heart of the small village of Osek in the Rokycany District of the Plzeň Region, a few kilometers from the hamlet of Nový Dvůr, which belongs administratively to the same municipality. It is a modest Baroque manor house that grew out of an earlier Gothic stronghold, changing hands and purpose many times over the centuries. Today it is privately owned and slowly being brought back from decades of neglect.

What stood here before the castle?

The site's story begins in the second half of the 14th century, when a small Gothic fortified house was built at Osek to watch over the surrounding land. Historians disagree on when it was first recorded in writing: some cite a 1379 document naming Lipolt of Chrást as owner, while researcher Jiří Úlovec argues the earliest unambiguous mention of the building itself dates only from 1572. Either way, Osek already had its own lord well before the Renaissance.

How did the fortress become a Renaissance, then a Baroque, residence?

In the second half of the 16th century, the original stronghold was enlarged and remodeled in the Renaissance style, turning a purely defensive structure into something closer to a country residence. The decisive transformation came later still. In 1681, Ferdinand Leopold Nostic acquired the Osek estate, and around 1689 he added a three-story tower and rebuilt the house in the Baroque style. It is this late-17th-century phase, not the medieval stronghold, that gives the building the appearance visitors can still make out in Osek today.

Who owned the castle after the Nostic family?

The Nostic family held Osek until 1734. Ownership then passed to the Šternberk family, and over the following decades the estate changed hands several more times before reaching the Colloredo-Mansfeld family, associated with nearby Zbiroh. This chain of owners is typical of small Bohemian manor houses — Osek was never the seat of a major dynasty, only a modest local administrative center for a rural estate.

What is the castle used for now, and can it be visited?

Osek Castle has been a protected cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1964. In the postwar decades it stood at the center of a former state farm and served as housing for agricultural workers, a common fate for small Czechoslovak manor houses once they lost their representative role. It is now privately owned and slowly being restored, but it is not open to the public: there is no furnished interior route for visitors. The exterior can still be viewed freely while walking around the village.

How does Nový Dvůr relate to the castle?

Nový Dvůr is a small hamlet that forms part of the Osek municipality, within the local area known as Vitinka, a few kilometers from the village center where the castle stands. The 2011 census counted only a few dozen residents there across around thirty houses — a quiet farming hamlet in the hills of the Plzeň Region. Osek itself lies about four kilometers north of the town of Rokycany and has just over a thousand inhabitants. For anyone staying near Nový Dvůr, Osek Castle is the closest historic building in the area, though it remains private property rather than a museum.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Osek Castle located? In the center of the village of Osek, in the Rokycany District of the Plzeň Region, a few kilometers from the hamlet of Nový Dvůr and about four kilometers north of the town of Rokycany.

Can visitors tour Osek Castle? No. The building is privately owned and has no organized visitor route — it can only be viewed from the outside.

Where does the castle's current Baroque look come from? From the rebuilding carried out after 1681 by Ferdinand Leopold Nostic, during which a three-story tower was added around 1689.

Who owned the castle after the Nostic family? After 1734 the estate passed to the Šternberk family and later to further owners, eventually reaching the Colloredo-Mansfeld family of Zbiroh.

What is Nový Dvůr's relationship to Osek? It is a small hamlet that administratively belongs to the Osek municipality, within its Vitinka local area, located a few kilometers from the castle itself.