Horní Planá - the highest town in the South Bohemian Region

Accessibility

Year-round

Entrance fee

Free

How to get there

You can use one of the car parks in Horní Plana. 

Time needed to visit

2 hours

Additional information

The history of the town dates back to 1349, when the original settlement was promoted to a township by Charles IV. Horní Planá has been using the town emblem of a bear with a Rosenberg rose since the 15th century.

Horní Planá today has more than two thousand inhabitants and is situated on the slightly sloping slope of the left bank of the Lipno reservoir at an altitude of 776 m above sea level. It is the largest town on the banks of the Lipno Reservoir and the highest town in South Bohemia. Many of the original medieval houses fell into ashes in the Middle Ages, and therefore most of today's architectural furnishings date back to the 19th century. The present-day Lake Lipno is not a modern landscape feature on the Vltava River: a prehistoric Sumava lake already existed below Mount Luč, between today's Frymburk, Kaliště, Luč and Kraví Hora. In the last 60 years, however, the Vltava River has undergone enormous changes and before the Lipno waterworks were filled in (in 1952-1958), numerous meanders were created here, which have been called the Heart of the Vltava since ancient times.

The construction of the Schwarzenberg Navigation Canal also contributed to the economic importance of the area, as it was used to float the harvested timber to the Mühl River (Austria) and then to the Danube, where it was transported to Vienna, already loaded on ships.

Because the majority of the population was of German nationality, the name of the village was "Oberplan" in German and Horní Planá in Czech until 1918. The town is alive with its native Adalbert Stifter, of whose legacy the locals are very proud.

The family house of Adalbert Stifter, a shingled-roofed townhouse that now stands among the regular buildings, is a branch of the Regional Museum in Český Krumlov and is one of the oldest surviving houses in Horní Planá. Adalbert Stifter had a happy childhood in his family home, which was reflected in his work many times. Since 1910 the house has been owned by the town of Horní Planá and since 1960 a museum memorial has been open there.

On the square stands the beautiful Church of St. Margaret from the second half of the 13th century. Originally a Gothic building, it was enlarged and rebuilt in the Baroque style at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Inside, you will find early Renaissance paintings from 1530-1580 and a unique organ, and the church tower, which in the past served to defend the village, is also worth mentioning. At the entrance to the church is a part of the epitaph of Adalbert Stifter's mother, Magdalena.

Current Horní Planá is a rapidly developing tourist destination that offers interesting projects. One of them, for example, is the Šumava Everest, which includes 8 beautiful peaks of local mountains in the area. If you climb them, it's like climbing the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (8,848 m), for which the winners receive a special certificate.

Personality and Natives

• Adalbert Stifter (1805-1868) was a multifaceted personality. As a writer, he was strongly influenced by his Sumava origin, his knowledge of the beauty of the local nature and the interesting human fates of the local inhabitants. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. The small town of Horní Planá, its inhabitants and the surrounding countryside have left their image in Stifter's stories and novels.

Our tip
Beneath the town lies the most beautiful sandy beach on the entire Lake Lipno with the cleanest water in a long time.