Houska Castle is an early Gothic castle in the municipality of Blatce in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. Folklore considers this castle to cover one of the gateways to Hell, built to prevent demons (trapped in lower levels) from reaching the rest of the world. During World War II, the Wehrmacht occupied the castle until 1945. The Nazis were said to have conducted experiments into the occult. According to one source, “multiple myths about their supposed occult involvements there”. Another source states locals believed that the Nazis had been using the “powers of Hell” for their experiments. Folklore says that Houska Castle, and most specifically the chapel, was constructed over a large hole in the ground that is a “gateway to Hell”, which is allegedly so deep that no one could see the bottom of it. Animal-human hybrids were reported to have crawled out of it, and dark-winged, otherworldly creatures flew in its vicinity. Legend has it that when construction began in the castle, all of the prisoners that were sentenced to death were offered a pardon if they consented to be lowered by rope into the hole, and report back on what they saw. When the first person was lowered, he began screaming after a few seconds, and when pulled back to the surface, he looked as if he had aged 30 years. He had grown wrinkles and his hair had turned white. According to the Prague Tourism web site, the castle is reputed to have various types of ghosts, “a bullfrog/human creature, a headless horse, and an old woman” as well as the remains of “demonic beasts who escaped the pit”. The castle was not built as a residence, but was instead built because the hole was thought to be a gateway to hell. Thus, by constructing the Gothic building’s defensive walls facing inward, they were able to keep the demons trapped in the lower level’s thickest walls closest to the hole of the castle.
Appearance List Kronika česká (1541) by Václav Hájek z Libočan — associates Houska’s foundation with a “hole to Hell” (příchod do pekla); Hrad Houska: Tajemství a pověsti (1969) — Czech local history pamphlet recording castle legends, including Nazi use of the site.
Sample Read Astonishing Legends: Episode 083 Houska Castle – Gateway to Hell Part 1 [YT]
Description Houska Castle is an early Gothic castle in the municipality of Blatce in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. Folklore considers this castle to cover one of the gateways to Hell, built to prevent demons (trapped in lower levels) from reaching the rest of the world. During World War II, the Wehrmacht occupied the castle until 1945. The Nazis were said to have conducted experiments into the occult. According to one source, “multiple myths about their supposed occult involvements there”. Another source states locals believed that the Nazis had been using the “powers of Hell” for their experiments. Folklore says that Houska Castle, and most specifically the chapel, was constructed over a large hole in the ground that is a “gateway to Hell”, which is allegedly so deep that no one could see the bottom of it. Animal-human hybrids were reported to have crawled out of it, and dark-winged, otherworldly creatures flew in its vicinity. Legend has it that when construction began in the castle, all of the prisoners that were sentenced to death were offered a pardon if they consented to be lowered by rope into the hole, and report back on what they saw. When the first person was lowered, he began screaming after a few seconds, and when pulled back to the surface, he looked as if he had aged 30 years. He had grown wrinkles and his hair had turned white. According to the Prague Tourism web site, the castle is reputed to have various types of ghosts, “a bullfrog/human creature, a headless horse, and an old woman” as well as the remains of “demonic beasts who escaped the pit”. The castle was not built as a residence, but was instead built because the hole was thought to be a gateway to hell. Thus, by constructing the Gothic building’s defensive walls facing inward, they were able to keep the demons trapped in the lower level’s thickest walls closest to the hole of the castle.
