A medieval castle on a rocky bend — Goethe's favourite Czech town
Loket is one of the most picturesque small towns in the Czech Republic, built on a horseshoe-shaped rocky promontory in a dramatic bend of the Ohře River — 'loket' means 'elbow' in Czech. A Gothic castle dominates the town from above, encircling a remarkably intact medieval street plan with a main square, a Baroque plague column, and houses that look largely unchanged since the 16th century. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited seven times between 1785 and 1823, calling it 'a jewel among the rocks', and the castle's meteorite collection and torture chamber draw visitors year-round. Karlovy Vary…
Loket Castle was first mentioned in 1234 and became one of the most important Přemyslid royal fortresses in western Bohemia. King John of Luxembourg was imprisoned here by rebellious Bohemian nobles in 1315 — ironically the same castle his family had built. The town grew prosperous during the 15th and 16th centuries from silver mining in the Krušné hory mountains and from its position on the trade route connecting Bohemia to Bavaria. Goethe's repeated visits, during which he worked on Faust and fell in love with Ulrike von Levetzow in nearby Mariánské Lázně, cemented the town's Romantic-era r…