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Hrádek u Nechanic is a 19th-century Gothic style Romantic château near the town of Hrádek. It was built between 1839 and 1857 as a representative and summer seat by Count František Arnošt of Harach, one of the most important representatives of the Jilemnice dynasty. The young Austrian architect Karl Fischer led building operations and suggested decoration of the chateau's interior. The chateau was designed by the English architect Edward Buckton Lamb. Most of the furniture was made by local artisans. The remainder of the interior was brought from Italy and Austria. Around the same time, L. Krüger converted part of the local forest into a park. In the left part of the park, a reserve and pheasantry were founded. In 1945, the chateau was confiscated.
The chateau is a two-storey building with a prismatic tower, which includes battlements, a small shooting tower in the middle and two polygonal risalits on both sides. The chateau consists of two symmetrical wings. The west wing includes St. Ann´s chapel. On the east side are economic and administrative buildings, and a theatre. The park covers 30 hectares and includes meadows, and forests with deciduous and conifer trees. Some trees are of exotic origin.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.