Location: 25 km (16 mi) Southwest of Prague
Tel. 311 68 16 95
Karlštejn (German: Karlstein) is originally a medieval royal castle,
located on the cadastral territory of Budňany in the township of
Karlštejn in the district of Beroun, about thirteen kilometers east of
Beroun and thirty kilometers southwest of the center of Prague. It
lies in the middle of the protected landscape area Český karst. The
castle is owned by the Czech Republic and is managed by the National
Institute of Monuments. It has been open to the public continuously
since 1905, and thus belongs to one of the longest accessible
monuments in the Czech Republic. Since March 30, 1962, it has been
listed as a national cultural monument, and since the beginning of the
1960s, with exceptions, the number of visitors has not fallen below
200,000 visitors per year. Thus, Karlštejn has long been among the ten
most visited monuments in the Czech Republic - it is the second most
sought-after castle in the Czech Republic, and within the monuments
managed by the National Monument Institute, it has long held the
position of the fourth most visited monument.
Karlštejn Castle
was founded around 1348 as a private residence of the Czech and Roman
King (later Emperor) Charles IV. In the autumn of 1355, the newly
appointed Roman Emperor Charles, who had returned from the Roman
procession for the imperial coronation, changed the purpose of the
castle under construction. He decided to use it as a royal treasury -
an ingenious spiritual and military guarded repository of the imperial
crown jewels and a collection of holy relics. The Czech crown jewels,
until then stored in the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, were briefly
found in Karlštejn for the first time in the early 1520s at the behest
of Charles' son Václav IV. Immediately King Sigismund had both sets of
royal insignia taken out of the Czech Kingdom out of fear of Hussite
storms. After the end of the Hussite Wars, only the Czech royal jewels
(including the deeded crown archive) were returned to Karlštejn for
safekeeping in 1436 and remained there with short breaks until 1619.
The most valuable preserved spaces in Karlštejn are the chapel of
St. Catherine's Church and the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin
Mary in the Marian Tower and the Chapel of St. Crosses in the Great
Tower, which were decorated by the leading masters of Czech Gothic
painting. The uniquely preserved wall decoration of all the mentioned
chapels, consisting of fresco paintings and inlaid bands, is an
example of advanced artistic work of the late Middle Ages. The
so-called staircase fresco cycles in the staircase extension of the
Great Tower are also remarkably well preserved. A unique feature of
the castle is the set of 129 Gothic panel paintings decorating the
walls of the chapel of St. A cross whose scale has no parallel in the
world. The interior of the chapel, including the panel paintings, was
painstakingly restored between 1985‒2003 as part of the project The
Collection of Medieval Panel Paintings by Master Theodoric, for which
the National Institute of Monuments later received a diploma from the
European Union in the field of cultural heritage, the Europa Nostra
Award for the year 2005 in the category Conservation ‒ Collections of
works of art, which have become evidence of a sensitively executed
restoration and the uniqueness of the set of panel paintings not only
on a Czech, but also on a European scale. Although the current castle
is the result of a previously hotly debated, criticized and somewhat
questionably accepted neo-Gothic rebuilding from the end of the 19th
century, today's historic preservation authorities try to look at it
as a unique, rescue restaurant conditioned by the flow of contemporary
theoretical views on the restoration of historical medieval monuments.
The name of the castle originated from the combination of two German
words "Karls-stein" [ˈkɑʁls.štaɪ̯n], i.e. Karl's stone or Karl's rock
castle, and was adopted into Czech as Karlštejn. The name is derived
from the founder of the castle, King Charles IV, who had the passage
written in the founding document of the Karlštejn chapter published in
1357 "(...) we founded in the name of Christ the Savior to the praise
and glory of the Eternal Trinity and especially our most benevolent
Redeemer, (...) and to to the honor of all the heavenly host, we built
two chapels in our castle of Karlštejn, which we built from the ground
up as a completely new one, and decided to call it after our own name
for our more permanent memory, that is, to call it Karlštejn after Karl
(...).
From the first half of the 19th century, another form of
the name of the castle, Karlův Týn, is also documented, which was
created by an inaccurate translation of the local German name Karlstein
as "Karls-tein" ([ˈkɑʁls.taɪ̯n]; German Tein = týn, enclosure). The name
of Karlův Týn Castle appeared quite commonly in contemporary promotional
materials, guidebooks, the press, cultural works, historiography and on
postcards. In 1949, the name of the castle was transferred to the
village under the castle, until then called Budňany.
Karlštejn was founded by the Czech and Roman king, later Emperor
Charles IV, as a relatively modest building with one tower. The
intention to store and protect the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire
and relics (holy remains) was conceived by Karel only later, in 1356,
according to the latest research, and new towers were added accordingly.
According to the tradition based on the chronicle of Václav Hájek from
Libočany, the ceremonial opening of the building on June 10, 1348
together with Charles IV. the first archbishop of Prague, Arnošt of
Pardubice, also participated, but both men were not in Bohemia that day,
and therefore could hardly have ceremonially founded the castle. This
probably happened 2 years earlier around 1346. The construction of the
castle continued until 1365. The interior decoration of the castle and
the chapel of St. The cross was completed in 1367.
Czech crown
jewels were also brought here at the beginning of the 15th century. This
was probably done on the instructions of Karl's son, King Wenceslas IV.
(1378–1419). However, there is no record of this transfer. They were
already brought to Prague from Karlštejn for the coronation of King
Sigismund (1420). After the coronation, the jewels were returned to
Karlštejn, but soon after that the Hussite revolution broke out and
Sigismund had both the Czech and the imperial crown jewels taken abroad.
During the revolution, the castle withstood a siege by Hussite troops
under the leadership of Zikmund Korybutovič (1422). After the end of the
wars and his return to the Bohemian throne, Sigmund returned the Czech
crown jewels back to Karlštejn (1436), where they remained stored until
the beginning of the 17th century. The imperial jewels had already
remained abroad.
The original function of the castle was changed
by the Hussite Revolution. The burgraves of Karlštejn guarded the Czech
crown jewels and the state archive. From 1541, descriptions of land
records were also stored here.
The Vladislav land constitution
issued by King Vladislav Jagiellon in 1500 binds the burgraves of
Karlštejn with an oath to protect the castle with the crown, jewels and
land privileges under penalty of death, loss of honor and property, and
expulsion of descendants from the country. They were only allowed to
issue the crown to someone who had previously been duly elected as the
Czech king. After the coronation, which took place in Prague, the jewels
were returned to the castle.
In the middle of the 16th century,
under the administration of Jáchym Novohradský from Kolovrat, the castle
underwent a Renaissance reconstruction. The reconstruction mainly
concerned the Great Tower and the burgrave building, which was the most
used at the time.
At the time of the estate uprising, the crown
jewels were taken to Prague Castle by decision of the directors on June
22, 1619. With the development of military technology, the defense
function of the castle was already found to be insufficient. During the
revision of the land constitution in 1625, Emperor Ferdinand II.
abolished the office of burgraves of Karlštejn because he lost his
functions. The castle was transferred to the use of Czech queens. In
1626, Empress Eleonora gave the castle to Jan Kavka from Říčany. He had
the equipment and the remaining sacraments taken from the castle. At the
end of the Thirty Years' War (1648), the castle was captured by the
Swedish army. After the end of the war, the castle was greatly
dilapidated.
At the end of the 17th century, it became the
property of Czech queens and empresses. In 1755, Maria Theresa donated
it to the newly founded Institute of Nobles in Prague. However, he only
used the castle as a center of economic administration for the
surrounding estates. The castle continued to decay. It received
attention only at the end of the 18th century in connection with the
national revival. In 1812, Emperor Francis I visited the castle, who
immediately donated money for its repair.
In the years 1887–1905, the castle was rebuilt in the spirit of
so-called purism, which was supposed to restore the castle to its
supposed Gothic appearance. It was realized by Josef Mocker, initially
on the basis of the concept of the Viennese professor Friedrich von
Schmidt until his death in 1891, then independently from 1892. After
Mocker's death in 1899, the construction board was completed by the
engineer Krch. The results of this reconstruction were already
criticized at the beginning of the 20th century, but with the passage of
time they are evaluated as a manifestation of their time. However,
Dobroslav Líbal sharply criticized Schmidt's and Mocker's adaptations of
Karlštejn on the occasion of the centenary of Mocker's death.
The
castle was opened to the public in 1905, since 1918 it has been owned by
the state. In 1962 it was declared a national cultural monument.
Currently, Karlštejn is one of the most visited castles in the Czech
Republic. It is owned by the state and managed by the National Monuments
Institute, the Territorial Monuments Administration in Prague. In
addition to three guided tours, Karlštejn also offers a number of
cultural and social events every year - concerts, theater performances,
exhibitions, the Karlštejn Cultural Summer, the Royal Parade and the
traditional Karlštejn wine harvest. Karlštejn Castle also offers the
possibility of organizing wedding ceremonies.
For the period
2018–2022, an extensive reconstruction of the ground, basement and
cellar spaces of the Imperial Palace was planned, which was ceremonially
launched on March 5, 2020. The aim of the reconstruction work is to
build a new visitor center with toilets, a multi-purpose hall will be
created in the basement of the Imperial Palace, and in the burcounty
building a permanent exhibition will be installed on the construction
development of the castle and on the Karlštejn winery.
Karlštejn is a massive stone Gothic castle that stands on a limestone rock promontory (316 meters) above the village of the same name and consists of several independently fortified buildings. The surroundings are surrounded by vineyards and deep, mostly deciduous forests. The main parts of the castle are the well tower, the Burgrave building, the Clock Tower, the Imperial Palace, the Marian Tower and the Great Tower. The individual architectural elements of the castle are arranged in stages according to the meaning given to them by Charles IV. added, with the Great Tower being the highest.
The castle well is 78 meters deep. It does not have its own spring, the water was supplied through a tunnel from Budňanské stream, flowing under the castle. The device for raising and lowering the shackle forms a wheel in which people stepped and set them in motion.
The burgrave has been rebuilt many times in the past. Today's building comes from the late Gothic addition of Karlštejn in the 15th century. The original building from the time of Charles IV. it was torn down in the 19th century as part of Josef Mocker's reconstruction. In the 21st century, it serves the administration of the castle, ceremonial ceremonies of the municipal office and representational purposes.
The palace served in the time of Charles IV. and Wenceslas IV. as the residence of the monarch and his court. On the 1st floor, there are rooms serving the sovereign's court. The second floor was occupied by the monarch. Charles's bedroom and representative spaces such as the Hall of the Ancestors (Luxembourg Hall) and the audience hall are located here - the best-preserved interior of the palace with wooden paneling. A spiral staircase leads from the bedroom to the rooms occupied by the queen and her ladies, the so-called fraucimore.
The smaller of the towers of the inner castle is connected by a
bridge to the imperial palace. On the 2nd floor is the Church of the
Virgin Mary with the sacristy. The church has preserved valuable wall
paintings with biblical scenes and so-called relic scenes, on which
Charles IV. receives and deposits the remains of the saints. The author
of the paintings is probably Mikuláš Wurmser from Strasbourg. Services
are still held in the church on the anniversary of the death of Charles
IV. (November 29) and on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Adjacent to the church is the chapel of St. Kateřiny, which served as
the emperor's private oratory. The walls of the chapel are lined with
the pietra dura technique, above the entrance there is a double portrait
of Charles IV. and his third wife Anna Svídnická.
On the 1st
floor, there are treasure rooms and jewelry rooms, where objects
belonging to the Karlštejn treasure are now displayed. A copy of the
Crown of St. Wenceslas is displayed in the jewelry store. The premises
on the ground floor of the tower, referred to as Červenka, served in the
past, among other things, as a castle prison.
The Great Tower is connected to the Marian Tower by a covered wooden
bridge. It is located on the highest point of the castle and has its own
fortifications, which corresponds to the greatest spiritual significance
and purpose assigned to it by the founder of the castle. After the
staircase with wall paintings from the life of St. Wenceslas and St.
Ludmila, one enters the most valuable area of the castle – the chapel
of St. Crisis. It was here that in the past the imperial crown jewels
and holy relics were stored, and later the Czech crown jewels and the
state archive. The interior of the chapel is decorated with gilding,
precious stones and stars, sun and moon made of Venetian glass. The
chapel is divided into two parts by a gilded lattice. Charles IV
himself. as a sign of humility and respect, he entered behind the golden
bars barefoot.
On the walls is a unique set of panel paintings,
the author of which is Master Theodorik. At the head is an image of the
Crucifixion of Christ, other images depict the heavenly army - holy
martyrs, holy widows and virgins, holy knights, bishops, popes and holy
rulers headed by Charlemagne and St. Václav. The interesting thing is
that the paintings continue on the frames. At the same time, the
paintings served as reliquaries.
The chapel was secured by four
doors with thick iron plates. It was locked with nine locks. The area
was guarded by guards who were based above the chapel. Entry to the
chapel was allowed only with the consent of the emperor, according to
whose decree no one was allowed to "sleep or lie down" in this tower
with any woman, even if she was his legal wife. Only particularly
important masses were held in the chapel, and only the archbishops and
the dean of Karlštejn were allowed to serve.
On Kněží hora, on the south side of which Karlštejn Castle stands, there are four vineyard terraces in the forecourt above the farm yard, which were probably built here in the 19th century. In 2020, project documentation for their restoration was prepared. The existing varieties will be replaced with new ones and perennials will also be planted and the staircase restored.
The movie Night on Karlštejn was filmed at the castle. Karlštejn Castle also became the subject of musical artistic creation, in 1973 the Czech music group Spirituál quintet released their first studio album Písničky z rok raz dvo, which, among other things, also features the song "U Karlova Týna", authored by Dušan Vančura.