It’s not everyday you find castles which are still owned by the original family. Czechia’s Český Šternberk towers over the town of the same name, and is one of the few in the world to make that claim.
History
When the Divis family1 2 3 built a castle in 12412, it was unusual to build castles out of stone.
I’ve written about a similar “unusual because it’s built with stone” castle – Valečov castle.
Zdenek called the place Šternberk because his coat of arms contains a star – Stern in German – and he built this place on a hill – Berg in German1 3 4. As was custom at the time, he adopted the name “of Šternberk” and the Divis family name was no more4.
The Šternberks have owned the castle since the 13th century with two exceptions. Other noble families owned it between 1712 and 18414. The Communist state owned it between 1949 and 19921 2 4. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the state returned it to the family1 2 4. The current owner is also called Zdenek and he is the 20th generation to own the castle3.
The family are also well connected to Czech history. They established the National Gallery and the art academy, founded the National Museum1, built Troja Chateau and Šternberk Palace Prague4.
Architecture
The original 13th century castle was Gothic but the family changed the building or rebuilt it over the centuries4. At the time they chose to build a place to live without much thought for defence. The location by the river Sazava, with great views of the countryside and a steep gorge on the castle’s western front, was an excellent choice.
It’s only when artillery became a primary weapon that, a hundred or so years later, they added fortifications. The 3-storey tower and the castle walls testify to this hastened construction2.
A major rework in the castle’s defences was in 1467 when King George of Podebrady captured the castle2 3 4. This led to the southern outpost bastion and its razor edge called the dungeon3 4.
In the 17th century, the castle was remade in a Baroque style which is closer to what we can still see today4.
Art
The 17th century Baroque reconstruction4 affected the interiors as much as the external parts of the castle, if not more. With these changes, the castle transformed from a fortress to a mansion. The various rooms contain original furniture and furnishings, most of which reflect the Baroque style at the time.
People add rather than replace furniture so you can see changes in contemporary trends as you walk through4. Art lovers should keep an eye out for original English Chippendale, French Renaissance and Dutch Baroque pieces4. There also is a 3 500 strong library containing books in 5 languages4.
Most impressive is a collection of 545 prints of the Thirty Years’ War. They feature battles, maps and reports from the frontlines2 4.
I wrote about the Thirty Years’ war and how it all started in Prague.
Visiting details
| Opening hours | The castle is open on the weekends. |
| Getting there | It’s a 45 minute drive from Prague. It’s a 2h 20 train ride on weekends. |
Share this with friends who would love to live in their ancestral homes!
- The castle of Cesky Sternberk persists through the centuries; Kay Grigar; Radio Praha; 2004-07-07[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Cesky Sternberk Castle; Prague and Czech Republic; 2011-02-18[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- History and present; Hrad Cesky Sternberk; (Retrieved 2019-07-05) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Guided tour of the castle undertaken 2019-07-14[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]