Grimburg Castle was built around 1190 by the Archbishops of Trier to serve them as a regional castle. It was the seat of office for almost 40 Hochwald communities and received a town charter in the 14th century. The castle was taken in 1522 by Franz von Sickingen.
In 1978 the castle was woken from a long slumber and partly restored in the following years. The intensive efforts of the “Friends of Grimburg Castle“ have made it possible to give the numerous visitors of today a rough picture of a medieval castle site. Viewing is possible all year round and the admission is free.
The castle complex extends for a length of about 300 meters and a width of around 90 meters. Thus, the Grimburg was, if not the most significant, at least the most spacious among the former Kurtrier state castles. It comprises a outer bailey, a rectangular keep, a hall (palas), and a chapel. The lower church served the residents of the outer bailey for worship, while the upper church, functioning as a gallery with its own entrance, remained reserved for the archbishop and his officials.
The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.