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The Secrets of Český Krumlov

Where the Vltava Bends and Seven Centuries Whisper

The river curves like a horseshoe and inside that embrace sits a town that time forgot to modernize. Český Krumlov was ruled by the powerful Rosenberg dynasty for three centuries, decorated by Baroque masters, nearly erased under Communist neglect, and then rescued just in time to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Ten riddles. Seven hundred years of Bohemian intrigue. One unforgettable walk along the Vltava.

10
Stops
~2h
Journey
10
Riddles

How to Play

  1. Tap a stop to read its story
  2. Solve the riddle — tap your answer
  3. The truth (+ hidden history) is revealed!
  4. Tap the 📍 address to navigate via Google Maps
The Medieval Fortress
The Tower That Watched Over Five Dynasties

A painted sentinel rising above the Vltava bend since the 13th century.

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Castle Tower (Zámecká věž)
Gothic / Renaissance · 1240–1590
You stand at the foot of the most recognizable silhouette in Bohemia. The round tower was first raised by the Lords of Krumlov around 1240 as part of a modest Gothic fortress. When the Rosenbergs inherited the estate in 1302, they transformed it into a Renaissance jewel, adding the distinctive green-and-ochre sgraffito decoration you see today—geometric patterns scratched into wet plaster, a technique imported from Italy.

Climb the 162 steps and the entire town unfolds beneath you: terracotta rooftops, the silver loop of the Vltava, and forested hills stretching to the Austrian border.
🧩 Riddle
What unusual animals have been kept in the castle moat since the 16th century?
💡 Need a hint?
They are large, furry, and you definitely would not want to meet one in a dark forest.
🎉 The Answer
B. Bears
The Český Krumlov castle moat has housed live bears since the Rosenberg era in the 1500s. The tradition continues today—the castle keeps two brown bears in the moat. The Rosenbergs claimed kinship with the Italian Orsini family (whose name derives from orso, Italian for bear), so the animals served as living heraldic symbols.
The Golden Stage
Europe's Best-Kept Theatrical Secret

Original curtains, stage machinery, and costumes—untouched since the 18th century.

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Baroque Castle Theatre
Baroque · 1682 / restored 1766
Hidden inside the Upper Castle is a time capsule that makes theatre historians weep with joy. Built in 1682 by Johann Christian von Eggenberg and lavishly remodeled in 1766 by Josef Adam von Schwarzenberg, this Baroque theatre preserves its original stage machinery, painted backdrops, costumes, and librettos—a survival rate unmatched anywhere in Europe.

The hand-operated wind machine still howls. The thunder machine still rumbles. Only the Drottningholm Theatre near Stockholm rivals it, yet Krumlov's decorations are a generation older and more purely Baroque.
🧩 Riddle
How many original painted stage backdrops survive in this theatre?
💡 Need a hint?
Think of a deck of cards—roughly half a standard pack.
🎉 The Answer
C. 27
The theatre preserves 27 complete sets of painted scenery, plus an original wind machine, thunder machine, and wave machine. It was sealed shut in 1898 and not reopened until 1966. That century of neglect is precisely why everything survived—nobody modernized it.
The Elevated Passage
A Bridge That Wears a Cloak of Stone

Three stories of arched masonry connecting the castle to its garden—suspended in midair.

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Cloak Bridge (Plášťový most)
Baroque · 1764–1767
You are standing beneath one of the most dramatic pieces of architecture in Central Europe. The Cloak Bridge is not merely a bridge—it is a three-story covered corridor that soars across a deep ravine, connecting the Upper Castle's fourth and fifth courtyards to the castle garden and the Baroque theatre beyond.

Built between 1764 and 1767, it replaced an earlier wooden drawbridge. The lower arcade offers vertigo-inducing views straight down into the Vltava valley.
🧩 Riddle
How many stories tall is the Cloak Bridge?
💡 Need a hint?
More than two, fewer than four.
🎉 The Answer
B. Three
The bridge spans a 40-meter-deep ravine and its three tiers once carried a private water supply, a covered walkway for nobility, and a service corridor for servants. The trompe-l'oeil paintings on its facade imitate expensive ashlar stonework—but the surface is actually plain plaster with painted illusions.
The Gothic Soul
The Church That Rivals the Castle

A soaring three-nave Gothic hall whose tower completes the town's famous silhouette.

Church of St. Vitus (Kostel sv. Víta)
Gothic · 1309–1439
Together with the castle tower, the neo-Gothic spire of St. Vitus defines the skyline of Český Krumlov. Construction began in 1309 under the Rosenbergs and the main structure was completed around 1439. Step inside and look up: the daringly high net vault ceiling seems to float above you.

The walls still bear Gothic figural frescoes from the early 15th century, and the early Baroque main altar (1673–1683) glows with gilded carvings. In the Chapel of the Resurrection, several Rosenberg lords lie entombed.
🧩 Riddle
Which powerful Bohemian dynasty used this church as their family burial place for three centuries?
💡 Need a hint?
Their coat of arms features a five-petaled rose.
🎉 The Answer
C. The Rosenbergs
The Rosenberg family's emblem—a five-petaled rose—is carved, painted, and embedded all over Český Krumlov. The family ruled Krumlov from 1302 to 1602, making them the longest-reigning lords in the town's history.
The Civic Heart
Where Merchants, Plagues, and Justice Converged

The main square since 1300—framed by painted facades and crowned by a Marian column.

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Svornosti Square & Plague Column
Medieval / Baroque · c. 1300 / 1714–1716
Every lane in the old town eventually leads you here. Svornosti Square has been the commercial and civic heart of Český Krumlov since the town plan was drawn around 1300. Merchants traded salt, textiles, and Bohemian garnets in the arcaded ground floors.

The hexagonal stone fountain surrounds a Marian Plague Column erected between 1714 and 1716, decades after a devastating plague swept through in 1680–1682. Eight saints encircle the Virgin Mary—each a patron protector against pestilence.
🧩 Riddle
What catastrophic event in 1680–1682 prompted the construction of the plague column on this square?
💡 Need a hint?
It was not a fire or a flood—it was microscopic.
🎉 The Answer
B. A bubonic plague epidemic
The plague of 1680–1682 killed roughly one-third of Český Krumlov's population. The column was not erected until 1714—over 30 years later—because the town needed that long to recover the wealth and workforce to commission it.
The Rebel Artist
The Painter the Town Expelled—Then Celebrated

A Renaissance brewery turned gallery, honoring the controversial genius who painted this town's rooftops.

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Egon Schiele Art Centrum
Renaissance building · 16th c. / Gallery est. 1993
Egon Schiele's mother was born in Český Krumlov, and the young Viennese Expressionist felt an almost obsessive pull toward the town. He arrived in 1911 with his girlfriend Wally Neuzil—a former model of Gustav Klimt—and began painting the crooked rooftops in his haunting, angular style. His series "Dead City" immortalized Krumlov in ochre and shadow.

But the conservative townspeople were scandalized. Within months they were effectively driven out. Schiele died in the 1918 influenza pandemic at just 28. Today, the town that expelled him honors him with this international art center.
🧩 Riddle
What was Egon Schiele's family connection to Český Krumlov?
💡 Need a hint?
Think about his parents, not his own choice to live here.
🎉 The Answer
B. His mother was born here
Schiele's mother, Marie Soukopová, was a Czech native of Český Krumlov. Despite this connection, the town's residents were so hostile to Schiele in 1911 that he painted the town as a "Dead City" (Tote Stadt). He died aged 28 during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.
The Monastic Quarter
A Double Monastery Hidden in Latrán

Two religious orders—one male, one female—sharing a single Gothic compound since 1350.

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Monastery of the Minorites & St. Clare
Gothic · Founded 1350
Tucked into the Latrán district lies one of Český Krumlov's most overlooked treasures. In 1350, the widowed Katherine of Rosenberg and her sons founded a dual monastery: the Minorite friars on one side, and the Poor Clares on the other, separated by a shared church.

The Gothic foundations survive beneath layers of Baroque renovation. Inside the church, the unique Gothic roof beams have been preserved since the 14th century.
🧩 Riddle
Who founded this dual monastery in 1350?
💡 Need a hint?
She was a widowed noblewoman from the family that ruled Krumlov for 300 years.
🎉 The Answer
C. Katherine of Rosenberg and her sons
This was a rare dual monastery—housing both male Minorite friars and female Poor Clares under one compound. The Gothic wooden roof trusses inside the church are among the oldest surviving timber structures in South Bohemia.
The Last Gate Standing
The Only Survivor of Krumlov's Medieval Walls

When progress demolished every other gate, this Renaissance tower held its ground.

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Budějovická Gate (Budějovická brána)
Gothic / Renaissance · 14th–16th c.
You are standing at the only surviving city gate of Český Krumlov. In the medieval era, a ring of walls and multiple gates protected the town. As centuries passed, transportation demands led to the demolition of every gate except this one.

The Budějovická Gate marks the southern entrance to the Latrán district and the beginning of the historic route to České Budějovice, the regional capital. Pass through the arched passage and you enter the oldest continuously inhabited street in Český Krumlov.
🧩 Riddle
How many of Český Krumlov's original medieval city gates survive today?
💡 Need a hint?
The answer is singular—and you are looking at it.
🎉 The Answer
B. One
The Budějovická Gate is the sole surviving city gate of Český Krumlov. All others were demolished during the 18th and 19th centuries to accommodate wider roads. The name means "Budějovice Gate" because it faced the road to České Budějovice, the regional capital 25 kilometers to the north.
The Living Stage
Where the Audience Spins and the Scenery Stays

An open-air theatre with a revolving auditorium—the garden's most surreal secret.

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Castle Garden & Revolving Theatre
Baroque garden · 17th c. / Theatre 1958
Beyond the Cloak Bridge, the castle's Baroque garden unfolds across a gentle hillside with geometric hedgerows, a Rococo fountain, and the elegant Bellarie summer palace.

The garden's strangest inhabitant arrived in 1958: a revolving open-air theatre. The auditorium—seating over 600 people—physically rotates during performances, turning the audience to face different scenes. Originally requiring 40 people to push it, an electric motor replaced human power in 1960.
🧩 Riddle
How many people were originally needed to manually rotate the theatre's auditorium before it was electrified?
💡 Need a hint?
Enough to field a football squad—and then some.
🎉 The Answer
C. 40
The revolving auditorium weighs over 60 tonnes and seats more than 600 spectators. When first built in 1958, 40 workers physically pushed it along a circular track. After electrification in 1960, the movement is so smooth that drinks stay steady on armrests.
The River Crossing
The Bridge Between Two Worlds

A small footbridge that has connected Latrán to the old town since the Middle Ages.

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Lazebnický Bridge (Lazebnický most)
Medieval · 14th c. / rebuilt multiple times
Your final stop is the humble bridge that holds the entire town together. The Lazebnický most spans the Vltava at its narrowest point within the old town, connecting the castle district of Latrán on one bank to the burgher town on the other.

The name means "Barber's Bridge"—named after the bathhouse (lázeň) that once stood nearby, where the town barber doubled as surgeon and dentist. Stand at its center and look upstream: the castle, the tower, the church spire, and the curve of the Vltava compose the most photographed view in all of the Czech Republic.
🧩 Riddle
What does "Lazebnický" mean, revealing the bridge's historical neighbor?
💡 Need a hint?
It relates to a place where people went to get clean—and perhaps have a tooth pulled.
🎉 The Answer
B. Barber's (Bathhouse)
Medieval bathhouses were social hubs—part spa, part surgery, part gossip exchange. The barber-surgeon (lazebník) who operated beside this bridge would shave your beard, pull your tooth, and let your blood on the same visit. The word lázeň (bath) survives in Czech place names across the country, most famously in the spa town of Karlovy Vary.

🌟 Beyond the Walk

Český Krumlov's greatest hits beyond today's route

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Graphite Mine (Grafitový důl)
Ride a mine train 70 meters underground through tunnels where graphite was extracted for centuries. The 2 km tour takes about 70 minutes.
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Castle Museum & Upper Castle Tour
Renaissance and Baroque interiors, the Masquerade Hall, and the Golden Carriage of the Eggenbergs.
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Vltava River Rafting
Rent a canoe upstream at Vyšší Brod and float 3–5 hours through forests and past castle ruins into town.
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Eggenberg Brewery
One of the Czech Republic's oldest breweries (since 1560). Tour the brewery and sample unfiltered tank beer.
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Museum Fotoatelier Seidel
A preserved early-20th-century photography studio with original glass-plate negatives documenting life in the Šumava region.
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Kleť Mountain Lookout
The highest peak in the Blanský Forest (1,084 m). Hike or take the chairlift for panoramic views stretching to the Alps.
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Lipno Lake & Treetop Walk
The largest lake in the Czech Republic, 40 minutes south. The Treetop Walkway spirals 40 meters above the forest canopy.