Probably, many still remember a drawing from a textbook on the history of the Middle Ages for the 6th grade of a Soviet high school, where the knight's castle was depicted standing on a high cliff with steep slopes. Of course, not all castles stood on such rocks, but this was not something exceptional either. On the contrary, in the same Czech Republic there are many castles on the tops of the rocks. In addition to the Cesky Krumlov castle, there is also the Cesky Sternberk castle - also a very powerful fortress located in the very center of the Czech Republic, near the Sazava River on the top of a cliff. The castle is again stretched along the ridge of this rock, so that nature itself took care of making it practically inaccessible, but what nature had forgotten, people corrected with their mind and patience.
Cesky Sternberk Castle.
There is one more circumstance that distinguishes this castle from others. They live in it. And not just anyone, but modern and prosperous descendants of the ancient Sternberg family. And this is its uniqueness. There are not so many old castles left in the world, within the walls of which the same family lives, starting with its founder - Zdeslav Divišovc. Moreover, for the Sternberk family, this is both a home and a source of their existence. Paid excursions are arranged around the castle, and the premises are rented out for weddings and scientific conferences!
Cesky Sternberk Castle. You can go canoeing along the river …
It is interesting that Cesky Sternberk was built in 1241, that is, in the year of the defeat of the Polish-German army in the battle with the Mongols at Legnica. Then it was erected on this very place by order of Zdeslav Divishovets, and its name was "The Pearl of Posazava". After that, the representatives of the Divišov family, following the example of many Czech aristocrats, decided to change their surname to the German style. Their emblem was a blue shield with the image of a hill topped with a golden star, which gave them the reason to be called Sternberks, because a star in German means "stern", and a hill means "berg". The motto of the coat of arms was appropriate: "We will never go out!" So it is not surprising that this is one of the most ancient families of the Czech Republic, like their castle itself, which is seven and a half centuries old! The castle was originally built in the Gothic style, not far from the town of Benesov. Moreover, when the flood comes or there are heavy rains, the water in the river rises so high that it approaches the very base of the castle, which only adds to its inaccessibility.
South Bastion
However, there are no completely inaccessible castles and fortresses, which, by the way, was proved by the example of the same castle during the era of the Hussite wars. Then, Pan Zdenek Konopištzki from Sternberk, who owned it, was an opponent of King Jiří of Podebrady and openly opposed him. For this, his castle was besieged by the royal troops and was plundered in 1467. After that, in 1480, so that such a misfortune would not recur in the future, its new owners built a new high tower at the entrance to it. This strengthened the castle from the military side, but could not prevent its dilapidation. It had to be repaired, and since the architectural fashion changed, like any other, from 1693 the castle appeared baroque features, and in 1886 the architect from Vienna K. Kaiser added elements of romanticism to it.
Sternberk Castle by Karl Wolff 1817
Family emblem.
First of all, a beautiful park was laid out around the castle in 1907 in just a couple of years. And although during the Second World War it was still slightly damaged, they managed to quickly restore it and opened it to the public as early as 1947. All the years while the Czech Republic was Czechoslovakia, the castle belonged to the state. But in 1992 it was returned to the representatives of the Sternberk family. It is quite rare that the Czech government has returned property to its former rightful owner. The fact is that when, after the "velvet revolution" of the 1990s, a law on denationalization was adopted in the Czech Republic, a clause was inserted into it that it is possible, yes, but … only on condition that the former owners of this property did not cooperate with the German -fascist invaders. An important clarification, isn't it? Because there were many of them. Especially among wealthy people. But Prince Sternberg did not accept the offer of cooperation with the Germans. Moreover, many sources say that he "let down the stairs of the Gestapo officer who came to his castle," and he armed his servants and went with them to the mountains, where he fought for all the years of the war. The most interesting thing is that when the Czech Republic was liberated by Soviet troops, the prince was imprisoned - well, the prince, a socially alien element, "peace to huts - war to palaces!"
The bastions and structures of the castle are impressive!
View from the castle to the river.
As for the fortifications of the castle, in its southern part there is a bastion of Gladomorn, dating back to the late Gothic era. Peter Golitski Sternberk began to build it in the XIV century, but he did not manage to finish it, so Jan Sternberk, his son, had a chance to complete it. After the castle was taken in 1467, they decided to strengthen the southern part of it with the help of additional structures. They erected a tower with a spiral staircase inside. Many holes have been made in the wall through which you can fire. So it was not easy to approach her. A horseshoe-shaped rampart was poured around the bastion, but from time to time it has not been very well preserved. But all this can be seen from the outside. But what do the castle walls hide inside? Oh, it's very, very interesting there too!
Interior of the "Knight's Hall"
Fireplaces and portraits of the "Knight's Hall"
As many as fifteen absolutely luxurious halls and rooms are open for visiting. First of all, tourists find themselves in the large "Knights' Hall" (the most spacious in the castle), where huge portraits of representatives of the family, dressed in armor from the Thirty Years War, hang on the walls, each of which has its coat of arms. The hall is decorated with fireplaces and huge, weighing 300 kg, Bohemian glass chandeliers. Then the route goes to the Chapel of St. Sebastian and to the Yellow Salon, decorated with frescoes from the Baroque era, and you can even sit on furniture from the times of Louis XIV. Further - the Ladies' Salon and a large library, which contains several thousand sometimes completely unique books, and the walls are decorated with the works of the Czech painter Petr Jan Bradl. This is followed by an inspection of the Dining Room, where there is a collection of family portraits of the Sternberk family, as well as silverware belonging to the family (remember how in almost every Dickens novels servants polish the family silver ?!).
Cabinet with a family tree from the present to the past.
Hunting salon.
Hunting trophies.
Next is the Oriental-style lobby and breakfast room, which displays a collection of silver figurines. The family genealogical tree of the Sternberk family is in the office of Jiri Sternberk. Six generations of the Sternberk family can be traced from it on 63 portrait images. Sociologists believe that a century is the life of three generations. This means that there are portraits of people two hundred years ago, but since life expectancy was earlier than today (even among the nobility!), Then this time is in the 2, 5 centuries, no less! The next four rooms are decorated in various styles - from Rococo to Baroque. The next hall will not leave indifferent men, because here are the trophies obtained during the Sternberk hunt. The tour of the castle ends at the main staircase, where a battle painting by Philip Sternberk hangs, that is, people in the family were of various talents.
Chapel.
Collections available for viewing, of course a cursory one, because this is an excursion, there are plenty in the castle, but of particular value is a collection of 545 (!) Copper engravings dedicated to the events of the Thirty Years War appear on them according to the plan of Jiri Sternberk. There is a unique Gothic stone statuette - a family relic dating back to the 14th century in the chapel. In general, the castle is simply overflowing with all kinds of old weapons, baroque furniture, colored stained glass windows, antique clocks and paintings by Italian and Dutch masters of the 17th - 18th centuries. Natural leather wallpaper is very effective, very similar to the wallpaper in the Gluboka castle. There is a valuable collection of smoking pipes, although Philip Sternberk, who collected them, did not smoke himself!
"Eastern Cabinet"
Ladies' salon.
Internal cold aisle
It is clear that each self-respecting castle should have either its own ghost, or its own legend. About the ghosts in the castle, something did not agree, apparently, none of its owners strangled their wives or walled them up in the walls, but the Sternberkov castle has a soul-stirring legend. According to it, one of the counts, having successfully sold one of his castles, received a fortune for it - one hundred thousand thalers in gold. And so he took part of the gold with him on the journey, and decided to leave some of it in the castle, under the protection of the faithful servant Ginek, who was appointed manager. The fidelity, of course, the quality is good, but so poor Ginek was worried about the safety of the prince's gold (by the way, who would not worry?), That he lost peace and sleep, and could not think of anything better how to hide the gold in the mountains. And he hid it "in one cold dark night!" And then soon after that he took it, and fell off his horse and was badly killed. So much that I could not speak. This is what God has prepared for him on the road. They brought him to the castle, began to read the waste, and he kept trying to show the clerk with gestures (there were no more literate ones) where he hid the treasure, but only the clerk understood him that way.
Library
Library (continued)
The so-called "Zloty Salon" impresses with its ceilings!
Salon furniture.
And this is a heater. That is, the firebox itself was “somewhere there,” and only hot air was supplied to this device.
The prince returned - but there was no money! Already he grieved, grieved, servants and interrogated, and threatened them, to no avail. And the clerk turned out to be honest. He came to the prince and confessed that it was because of his stupidity that he did not understand what the dying Hynek wanted from him. But the prince did not punish the clerk, but began to look for treasures, since he had enough people. They even dug up the surrounding fields, so it became impossible to sow on them - there were only holes around, but the treasure was never found. And it is quite possible that medieval Sternberk gold somewhere in the vicinity of Cesky Sternberk still lies, sooner or later someone will find it!
Large dining room
There are a lot of all kinds of weapons in the castle.
Well, if you go to Sternberk - by the way, getting there is very difficult, although it is located only 50 km from Prague. There are few direct buses and they go “with all the stops” so that it takes more than two hours and this is when “there” every minute counts. You have to go by train with a change - that is, all this is still that headache. Therefore, it is best for those who have an international auto license to rent a car and go using the navigator, then it is only 40 minutes. Although it is the most expensive. Again, the castle needs a group of at least 10 people. Less - but I don't want to wait, all those present add up for the missing ones. However, even if the excursion is conducted in different languages (there is also Russian, recorded on a tape recorder), its price is quite low and ranges from 4 to 7 euros. But it is very short - only one hour! But … what you can see in this castle redeems all these troubles and expenses.
