The history of the Krapkowice castle is little known. It is difficult to establish the exact date of its construction. We can assume that it was built in the Middle Ages as it had already existed before the town of Krapkowice were granted its charter by Duke Wladyslaw of Opole in 1294. Legend has it that it was built by the Knights Templar, but that seems unlikely. Neither do we know anything of the function that the building was to have. The town was established in the area of the Duke’s property and the castle was located just outside its walls. Who lived there? It is possible that it was a seat of the Duke’s landlord. The history of the castle must have been tumultuous if J. Sinapius in his book “Stories of Silesian Nobility” talks about a white lady who could be seen in the castle of Krapkowice. When the Upper Silesian (Opole and Racibórz) line of the Piast dynasty came to an end in 1532, the duchy was seized by Frederick Habsburg. Faced with heavy debts after his war with the Turks, he was forced to put the town in pledge to Joachim Buchta for the mere 6500 thalers. On September 29 1582 Krapkowice was sold to Count Jan Joachim von Redern for 1600 thalers and was no longer a duke’s town. The status of the castle grew as it was now a seat of the town’s owner. However, during the reign of the Rederns it was not inhabited as they had another seat in the castle in Rogów Opolski. The Rederns changed the architecture of Krapkowice to give it its present look. The old wooden castle was replaced by that noble family by a new one with 2 stories, four sides, and a courtyard in the middle. There is only one entrance to the courtyard through a hall located in the western wing. At the time the castle had an orangery which was directly connected to the garden, park and the hothouse. Construction works were finished in 1678, a date which was put on the gate to commemorate the event. The reign of the Rederns was the halcyon period for the castle which had a mirrored summer dining room, beautiful orangery with glass walls and direct connection with the hothouse, garden and park. Galleries led to the basements where wine and ice were stored. On August 28 1759 the last male descendant of the von Renderns, Count Henryk Adolf died leaving a sole heiress, Countess Henrietta who also died in 1765 at the age of 9, thereby putting an end to the Krapkowice line of the family. The property was taken over by Henrietta’s mother who sold it in 1775 to Karl Wilhelm von Haugwitz for 18,000 thalers. On June 16 the whole town was engulfed by rapid fire. A lot of houses burned down, as did the church and the castle. After the fire, the height of the castle was decreased by one storey and it is in this form that it has survived. The Haugwitzes owned the place until 1944 but they seriously neglected it. Between 1806 and 1807 a weaving house was set up inside. During the Napoleonic Wars, the castle turned into a hospital for French troops. It was totally destroyed at that time. After a fire which consumed the town, one of its stories was torn down. The castle’s chambers had different functions such as a weaving manufacture, Evangelical school, and a Masonic lodge. After the war the place was renovated and has housed a school since 1947.

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