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Founded: 1417Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)
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The Electoral Palace in Amberg was built from 1417 by Louis III, Elector Palatine, and replaced the Alte Veste, a Gothic building in the town center, as the electoral court. The original building on the north was added with a south wing, a moat and a gatehouse, by Elector Frederick I turning it into a fortress. Its present appearance with a high voluted gable was set in 1603 by Johannes Schoch, who redesigned the Zeughaus with an added tower on the south. On 1738 horse stables were built as a western wing.
After several large fires in the 17th century, only the south wing (Neues Schloss) remains from the once three-winged palace. It is connected through the fortified bridge Stadtbrille, to the Zeughaus (armory) across the Vils river.
Having served the Electors of the Palatinate from its construction to the abolition of the Electorate, the castle was home, since the 19th century, first to the Royal Bavarian District office and Revenue office, later the District Office of the Bavarian State Amberg District and from 1972 of the District of Amberg-Sulzbach.
References: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.