The story
The first written mention of Rájec is in a deed of Olomouc bishop Jindřich Zdík from 1141. There were two 13th-century castles that were probably destroyed in the struggles between Margrave Jobst of Moravia and his brother Prokop. It the 14th century, they were referred to as ruins. The first written mention of Jestřebí is from 1371, when it was owned by the Lords of Bořitov.
In 1570, one of the castle ruins was completely rebuilt by Bernard Drnovský to a Renaissance residence. After the male followers of the Drnovský family became extinct in 1618, it was owned by Johanna Drnovská, who married Styrian count Georg Ehrenreich of Roggendorf. After her death in 1667, Rájec was acquired by the Roggendorf family.
In 1757, Rájec Castle was completely destroyed by fire. In 1763, Antonín Karel of Salm-Reifferscheid bought Rájec and had the Neoclassical castle built in 1763–1769. The English park was founded in 1767 and extended to its current form is 1830. After World War II, the Salm-Reifferscheid family was disseized and expelled. In 1960, the municipalities of Rájec and Jestřebí merged.
In 1973, Rájec-Jestřebí obtained the town status.
From Wikipedia’s article on Rájec-Jestřebí, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5