Frýdlant

Frýdlant lies on the Smědá in northern Bohemia, beneath a castle guarding routes toward Görlitz and Lusatia. Rudolf of Bieberstein bought the fortress and surrounding lands in 1278, and his family held them through the Hussite Wars. Their support for King Sigismund brought conflict: the Hussites took Frýdlant in 1428 and raided it repeatedly in the following years.

The Redern family acquired the estate in 1558, founded villages and expanded linen production while adding Renaissance buildings to the castle. After the defeat of the Bohemian revolt in 1620, Christoph of Redern lost his property. Albrecht von Wallenstein received Frýdlant and restored Catholicism; after his assassination in 1634, the estate passed to Matthias Gallas. Religious persecution drove many Protestants into exile. Around 1800 the Clam-Gallas family opened the castle as a museum.