A 14th-century castle at the foot of Krzyżna Góra, rebuilt in the mid-19th century in neo-Gothic style by architect Friedrich August Stüler, today a historic hotel.
Karpniki Castle stands in the village of Karpniki in the Rudawy Janowickie hills, at the foot of Krzyżna Góra. It is a monument with roots going back to the 14th century, rebuilt several times, and its present neo-Gothic appearance dates from the mid-19th century.
The castle was probably built in the 14th century on the initiative of the knight Henryk Czirny, owner of Płonina and Sokolec. It originally consisted of a residential building and a cylindrical corner tower, built on an artificial island surrounded by a moat. The first records of an owner, a certain Clericicius Bolcze, date from 1369.
In 1475, Kasper Schoff-Gotsch expanded the castle with further interconnected buildings. Between 1580 and 1603, Friedrich von Kanitz carried out a Renaissance rebuilding, commemorated by an inscription on the portal. In the following centuries new wings were added, and the tower was topped with a Baroque helmet roof. In the 18th century the buildings around the courtyard were raised by one storey.
The castle owes its present appearance to a rebuilding carried out between 1822 and 1846, commissioned by Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern, brother of King Frederick William III. The design, in the English neo-Gothic style, was prepared by architect Friedrich August Stüler, drawing on the ideas of his teacher Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who stayed in Karpniki in 1832. The Renaissance stone portal has survived, decorated with the coats of arms of the Kanitz and Hatzfeldt families.
A romantic English-style park was laid out around the castle, featuring, among other things, a tea house and a Swiss cottage. In 1945 Soviet troops looted the castle. From 1956 to 1973 it housed a children's and summer camp centre, and in 1978 the building was converted into a holiday resort, later serving as a children's sanatorium.
Between 2009 and 2014 a thorough renovation was carried out, resulting in a hotel with rooms furnished in a historical style. The interiors retain 19th-century fittings, including a library cabinet, wood panelling and a period parquet floor. The building is privately owned.
The castle lies at the foot of Krzyżna Góra, close to Skalnik too. Also nearby are the Palace in Łomnica, Bolczów Castle and the Oak Palace in Karpniki.
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