Český Šternberk: One of Central Europe's Oldest Inhabited Castles

Český Šternberk is unlike any other castle day trip from Prague — and the difference is something you feel the moment you walk through the gate. Most Czech castles are beautifully preserved and completely empty: curated interiors, velvet ropes and information plaques. This one is still someone's home. The same family has lived here for over 780 years, across 21 generations. That changes everything.

Perched on a granite cliff above the Sázava River, just 40 kilometres from Prague, Český Šternberk is one of the best-preserved Gothic castles in Central Europe — and one of the least crowded.

A castle that has never left its family

Český Šternberk was built in 1241 by the Bohemian nobleman Zdeslav of Divišov. He named it Sternberg — from the German Stern (star) and Berg (mountain) — after the eight-pointed golden star on his coat of arms. That star can still be found throughout the castle today: carved into stone, painted on ceilings, woven into tapestries.

The Šternberk family have owned the castle almost continuously ever since. In 1949 the communist government nationalised the property — but Jiří Šternberk refused to leave. He stayed on as caretaker and guided visitors through his own ancestral home for over four decades. When the castle was returned to the family after the Velvet Revolution, his son Zdeněk restored the interiors and returned the property to its rightful character. Today the castle is administered by the 21st generation of the original founder's descendants.

The family's connection to Czech history runs deeper still. The Šternberks helped found the National Museum in Prague and the National Gallery — their influence shaped the country's cultural institutions as much as its architecture.

What you will see inside

The tour route leads through 15 richly furnished rooms on the second floor — each from a different period, each telling a different chapter of the family's story. Gothic foundations hidden beneath lavish early Baroque renovations. Frescoed walls and stucco ceilings. A Knight's Hall lined with portraits. Renaissance and Baroque furniture, some original to the castle, some brought from other Šternberk properties across Europe.

The most remarkable collection in the castle is Jiří Šternberk's 545 copper engravings depicting the entire history of the Thirty Years' War — one of the largest monothematic collections of graphic prints in Europe. It is the kind of thing that stops you in your tracks.

The exterior of the castle has retained its Gothic appearance — stark, serious and dramatically positioned above the river valley. The contrast between the austere stone walls outside and the ornate interiors within is one of the things visitors remember most.

Český Šternberk as part of your day from Prague

The castle sits in the Sázava River valley, surrounded by forest — a completely different landscape from the city. On a private day trip from Prague your licensed guide accompanies you throughout, bringing the history of the castle and the Šternberk family to life in a way that no information panel ever could.