Filming Location Berštejn Castle: The Ideal Setting for Your Shoot

Berštejn Castle, a historic 16th-century château, has become a favorite location for film directors from around the world. Its unique atmosphere, expansive park, and pristine surrounding nature provide the perfect backdrop for various film projects. The locations around the castle are simply fascinating – beautiful scenery, mysterious nooks, and narrow paths lined with sandstone rocks. This dramatic and stunning natural landscape creates an unforgettable visual experience.

Complete Facilities for the Film Crew

Berštejn Castle is not only an ideal filming location but also offers excellent facilities for the entire film crew. During your stay, you have access to spacious rooms not only for filming but also for work, meetings, rehearsals, and relaxation. Our kitchen is ready to prepare late-night dinners even at 3 a.m. if necessary. You can enjoy sitting by the fireplace, on the terrace, or playing billiards.

Rest and Relaxation

On a day off, guests can take a trip to Prague, but most usually prefer to relax right here. The castle offers a sauna, a pool, and the privacy of an enclosed park. This tranquil and inspiring space is perfect for rejuvenation after demanding days of filming. The area is also ideal for pleasant walks and excursions.

New Feature: Manor Farmyard or Historic Village

We are now offering film crews the opportunity to shoot in the historic village of Manor Farmyard, which we recently acquired and are striving to preserve. This authentic rural space provides additional options for unique film scenes and adds a new dimension to your projects.

What was filmed here?

MOVIE LOCATION: The first film, which was filmed at the castle Berštejn in 1943 with actress Magda Schneider and actor Rudolf Prack, was a German imperial epic Die heimlichen Bräute – whole movie here. Film was later seized as war booty and is now in the archives in Moscow and Berlin. Since 1997, foreign makers go to the castle regularly, several times a year. Here filming commercials, music videos, video spots and films, the most well-known example of American-German-British drama film Doctor Zhivago (Golden Satellite Award), Russian historical epic Vij, Russia-German drama Faust (Golden lion Venice Film Festival 2011) and Czech films The Proud Princess, Dark Blue World, Innocence. This May, a new episode for the Discovery Channel’s “Expedition X” was filmed here. We can’t wait to share more about it with you.

Chateau Berstejn as filming location for TV commercial:

In 1952, the famous Czech fairy tale “Pyšná princezna” (The Proud Princess), based on motifs of the fairy tale of Božena Němcová, was shot in the vicinity of the castle. Director: Bořivoj Zeman; Screenplay: Bořivoj Zeman, Henryk Bloch, Oldřich Kautský; Camera: Jan Roth; Production: Československý státní film Praha 

Dark Blue World (original title: Tmavomodrý svět) is a Czech war movie from 2001. Directed by Jan Svěrák. The main role played Ondřej Vetchý. The film was the Czech submission for a nomination at the Oscar ceremony in 2002 in the category best foreign language film, was neither nominated nor awarded though. Director: Jan Svěrák; Screenplay: Zdeněk Svěrák; Camera: Vladimír Smutný; Production: Jan Svěrák, Eric Abraham 

Doctor Zhivago (Original title: Doctor Zhivago) is an American-German-British film drama made in 2002. Giacomo Campiotti as “Best New Director”, the film in the category of “Best drama”, and costume designer Annie Symons were nominated in the year 2003 for the BAFTA TV Award. The film had a sound track nomination in the year 2003 for the RTS Television Award. In 2004 a nomination for Best Mini Series for the Golden Satellite Award followed. Director: Giacomo Campiotti; Screenplay: Andrew Davies; Production: Rebecca Eato 

Wij (also Vij – Russian) is a story of the Russian writer Nikolai Wassiljewitsch Gogol. It was published in the year 1835 as part of the anthology “Mirgorod” with four of Gogol’s darkest short stories and is considered a classic of Russian fantastic literature. The shooting took place in the years in 2007 – 2011. Some days the place was near the castle more than 150 people from Russia and Czech filmmakers and more than 100 extras.Director: Oleg Stepchenko; Screenplay: Oleg Stepchenko, Alexander Karpov; Camera: Vladimír Smutný; Production: RFG (ROSPOfilm Group) 

Russian film Faust, loosely based on the classic tragedy of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe, won the award Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for best film. Faust, filmed in Russian production with German actors in the German studios and around the castle Berštejn, the last part of the tetralogy on the nature of power, and the “big players who lost their life’s most important stakes.” “Evil is contagious and unhappy people are dangerous,” he was Goethe. Directed by Alexander Sokurov; Screenplay: Alexander Sokurov, Marina Koreneva; Camera: Bruno Delbonnel; Production: Andrei Sigle 

Innocence (original title: Nevinnost) is Czech thriller. Directed by Jan Hrebejk. The film had a nomination in the year 2011 for the Czech Film Critics’ Awards and two Czech Lion Awards. Director: Jan Hrebejk; Writers: Petr Jarchovsky (screenplay), Jan Hrebejk (story); Stars: Ondrej Vetchy, Ana Geislerova, Hynek Cermak

New! Now we can offer the filmmakers the farm and manor house for filming. More info here.