The Bohemian nobleman Zdeslav of Divišov, later Zdeslav of Sternberg, built the castle in 1241, on a steep granite cliff above the Sázava river. The article names no architect. Early Gothic features were partly concealed by later work. A three-story north tower and rampart came in the 14th century, and a round south tower around 1500. A lower palace followed in 1751, and the interior stuccowork of 1760 is credited to Carlo Brentano, in Baroque and Rococo style.
Royal armies seized and ruined it in 1467, and the Sternbergs rebuilt it. It survived looting in 1627. The Communist government nationalized it in 1949, and it was returned to the family in 1992.
The House of Sternberg owns it and also lives there. It holds 545 copper engravings of the Thirty Years' War.
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