Most open-air museums look like carefully arranged museums. The houses are brought from elsewhere and stand in rows like soldiers. Zubrnice (formerly German Saubernitz) is different. It is a “living” village in the heart of the Bohemian Central Mountains, where history does not hang on a nail in a gallery, but breathes from every crack in the timbering and from every stone in the village square. If you are looking for authenticity, nostalgia and a bit of adventure, let’s go together to places where the Czech countryside blends with German precision. If you are attracted by the smell of old wood, the clatter of a mill wheel and a ride on a historic train, you have come to the right place. It is the youngest open-air museum in Bohemia, but its soul is deeply rooted in the past.
I’M SURE YOU’LL FALL IN LOVE WITH ZUBRNICA!
Unlike other open-air museums, Zubrnice is not just a “collection of houses.” It is a real village, where historic half-timbered houses and brick farmhouses stand in their original places and blend naturally with the surrounding landscape.
THE LOST WORLD OF THE SUDETEN GERMANS
It is easy to fall into the idyll while walking among the half-timbered houses in Zubrnice. However, the history of this place is deeply connected with the fate of the Sudeten Germans who lived here for centuries. Until 1945, Zubrnice (Saubernitz) was a purely German village in the heart of the Sudetenland. The local farmers were not only farmers, but also skilled craftsmen and fruit and hop traders, which is reflected in the richness of the local buildings (e.g. two-story brick estates of the Empire style).
German settlers arrived in the area as early as the 13th century as part of the so-called Great Colonization. They brought with them specific agricultural practices and a legal system (e.g. emphyteutic law), which enabled the creation of stable and wealthy estates.
Zubrnice was for centuries part of the estate of Střekov Castle and later of the Litoměřice Bishopric. German families were not just “tenants” here, but proud farmers for generations. It was thanks to their prosperity that the massive brick estates with Empire elements that we admire today could be built.
THE BREAKING YEAR 1945: THE END OF AN ERA
After World War II, Zubrnice suffered the same fate as the rest of the Sudetenland. Based on Beneš’s decrees, almost 95% of the original population had to leave. Families who had lived in their houses for 300 or more years had to leave their homes within a few hours with only a minimum of belongings. After the expulsion of the Germans, new residents from the interior, Slovakia and Romania moved into the village, but the relationship with the land and traditions was severed. Many houses began to fall into disrepair because they were too large and expensive to maintain for the new settlers.
Many houses in the area remained empty and the village began to fall into disrepair. Ironically, it was the decay of German culture in Zubrnice that led to the establishment of the open-air museum.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OPEN AIR MUSEUM
In the 1970s, the village was threatened with demolition (including the church). However, a group of enthusiasts and preservationists led by František Ledvinka realized that the disappearing German folk architecture was an irreplaceable heritage. The open-air museum was created as an attempt to save fragments of a world that disappeared with the removal of the original inhabitants. Today, descendants of the original German families often return to Zubrnice. They look at the houses of their ancestors, which are now museum exhibits, and help complete the family trees and stories of specific homesteads.
HOW DOES THE OPEN AIR MUSEUM REMIND THE GERMAN TRAIL?
Until 1945, the population lived here, cultivating the harsh but beautiful landscape for centuries. Today, the open-air museum does not try to hide this history, but on the contrary, presents it sensitively. In the interiors of the houses you can find original German inscriptions on tiled stoves, prayer books or period household equipment left over from the original owners. The unique two-story half-timbered houses are a typical element of the Czech-German border and show how the local culture differed from the interior. Guides often tell the stories of specific families who lived in the houses, which gives the open-air museum a face to the forgotten inhabitants.
CHURCH OF SAINT MARY MAGDALENE
The Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the center of the village, which was condemned to demolition in the 1970s, was saved literally in five minutes twelve. Today it is a symbol of reconciliation and the reunion of Czechs and descendants of the original German inhabitants.
The interior was drastically looted after 1945. What you will see today are often salvaged pieces from other extinct churches in the area (e.g. from the church in the village of Verneřice). For the original German inhabitants (Saubernitz), the church was the center of everything.
In the 1970s, when “unwanted” church monuments were being massively liquidated in the Sudetenland region, this church was also condemned to demolition. The demolition squad was almost ready. Only thanks to the immense efforts of the preservationists and the founders of the open-air museum was the church saved in 1974. The argument at that time was not religion (that was a thorn in the side of the then regime), but the fact that the church formed an essential urban dominant of the emerging open-air museum.
Every Sunday, peasants from the entire valley gathered here. Masses were in German and the church was a place where family chronicles and traditions were kept. A cemetery used to be located around the church. Even though most of the tombstones were destroyed after the removal, you can still find fragments here reminiscent of the German names of the old families who built the local landscape for generations.
Today, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene does not function as a rigid museum. It is a place with excellent acoustics, where concerts are regularly held. From baroque music to modern choral singing. Works inspired by the landscape of the Bohemian Central Mountains are often exhibited here.
MY TIP:
When you are at the church, notice the reconciliation cross near the entrance. These stone crosses were erected in the Sudetenland as a symbol of repentance for committed acts, and in Zubrnice they remind of the harsh but fascinating history of this region.
ARCHITECTURE THAT SURVIVED ITS OWN DEATH
Zubrnice is unique in that the core of the open-air museum consists of houses that were built here centuries ago. They are not just cottages, but massive multi-storey estates.
You will see a fascinating mix of building styles here. While the ground floor is often made of stone or timber, the upper floors are decorated with typical half-timbering. It is also the German influence that gives the buildings here their unmistakable character.
SPIRITUAL PASTS
When exploring the interiors, pay attention to the details. German inscriptions on the tiled stoves or furniture with typical painting. After the evacuation in 1945, the village almost disappeared. Only thanks to the enthusiasm of preservationists in the 1970s did it not become a “ghost village”, but a museum that today serves as a bridge between the past and the present.
OLD SCHOOL
I think one of the most powerful experiences is the old school. Wooden benches, a blackboard and a map of Austria-Hungary, an atmosphere of strictness that would probably make today’s children cry within five minutes. You too can sit on the wooden benches and try out how learning was done in the days of your great-grandmothers. You can even try kneeling on peas. The 1997 exhibition is one of the most popular parts of the premises.
Zubrnická škola (No. 26) is a two-story timbered building from 1863. It is an example of what education was like in the countryside in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The guides will colorfully describe what discipline was like in the 19th century. All the children studied here together in one class, which required immense patience and authority from the teacher. It is impossible not to notice the massive beams and low ceilings. The building was designed to be easily heated in the harsh winters of the Bohemian Central Mountains.
When you enter the classroom, you feel like the children have just left for a break. The exhibition is made up of equipment that was saved from the surrounding villages in the Sudetenland. On the wooden benches you will find slate tablets, on which they wrote with a stylus, as well as classic inkwells with ink. There is also a teacher’s table, on which lies the dreaded reed. An essential teaching aid of the time. Instead of interactive boards, you will see old botanical maps, stuffed birds and a portrait of the Emperor (or later T. G. Masaryk), who strictly supervised the morale of the students. In the back of the classroom you will see a school cabinet full of historical teaching aids, from which entire generations of Sudeten Germans and later Czech settlers learned.
You stand there and remember complaining about the heavy briefcase. You wouldn’t want to complain here. Here, learning was done with discipline and without compromise.
HOW WAS LIFE FOR THE TEACHER?
An interesting part of the exhibition is the teacher’s apartment, which was located right in the school building. The teacher was a respected person in the village (right after the priest and mayor), but his life was not easy. You will see a modest kitchen and a room that also served as a study. In addition to teaching, the teacher often had to tend the school garden and in winter he himself had to heat the stove so that the children would not freeze upon arrival.
During special events (such as Shrovetide or Easter), the school holds demonstration classes. You can try writing with a quill pen or listen to the explanation of the “teacher” in a period costume. For children, this is often the greatest experience of the entire open-air museum, especially when they discover that in the past, people actually knelt on peas while speaking during class.
VILLAGE STORE
Do you fancy a retro atmosphere? This brick shop from the mid-19th century will amaze you with its period details and furnishings.
This exhibition in house no. 61 will transport you to a time when shopping was not just an exchange of money for goods, but the main social ritual of the village.
COLONIAL: WHERE YOU BUY EVERYTHING
When you enter a Zubrnice shop, you will immediately be struck by a specific smell. And that is a mixture of coffee, spices, soap and tobacco. Unlike today’s impersonal supermarkets, the goods here were not on shelves, but behind the counter, in the hands of the shopkeeper. The shop is furnished with authentic furniture from the late 19th and first half of the 20th century. You will see beautiful wooden drawers for loose ingredients (flour, sugar, legumes), which were weighed on brass scales into paper cones. On the shelves you will find tin chicory cans, soap boxes with deer or old coffee advertisements, which remind you that even in the remote Sudetenland people longed for a little luxury.
In Zubrnice (Saubernitz), Germany, the shop played a vital role. It was not just a shop, but also an information hub. It often also housed a post office or the only telephone in the village. People stopped here to discuss neighborhood news, the weather, or politics. Local farmers often brought surpluses from their gardens (apples, eggs) and exchanged them for things they didn’t make themselves, such as salt, kerosene for lamps, or sugar.
And what can you find here?
Cash register: The massive metal cash register is the technical jewel of the exhibition.
Sugar Loaf: Do you know how sugar was bought in the past? Here you will see examples of sugar loaves, from which pieces had to be laboriously cut off with special pliers.
Warehouse and facilities: Take a look behind the counter, where sacks of grain and barrels were stored, which illustrates the logistics of supply at the time. It is an ideal place to buy a stylish souvenir or a postcard, which you can have stamped at the school next door.
FILM TRAIL
The store has also been featured in a number of films. Its faithful historical appearance saved filmmakers (including the crew of the movie “The Good Guys”) the trouble of building sets. Every corner here looks so real that you wait for the housekeeper in a scarf with a shopping cart to appear at the door.
MILL VALLEY
In the valley of the Meadow Stream you will find a unique system of water mills. The smallest one, the Walschmühle, is still functional and will show you the power of water in practice. Take a walk along the Meadow Stream. You will find small water mills that look like something out of a fairy tale. They are fully functional and during the events you will see the grinding of grain with your own eyes.
The town had one great fortune, the rapid Luční stream. It became the energy artery of the village. In the past, a total of 23 waterworks (mills, sawmills and waterworks) operated here. The Mill Valley, as we know it today, is a unique system that shows how effectively the Germans and Czechs were able to use the power of nature.
TÝNISTĚ MILL NO. 27: THE HEART OF THE VALLEY
The most important building is the so-called Walschmühle (Walšův mlýn). It is a two-story half-timbered building that looks like it came out of a fairy tale about the miller and the devil. The mill has an upper drive (water falls on the wheel from above), which gives it great power. Inside you will see the complete grinding equipment, the so-called “Czech composition”.
If you visit the open-air museum during events, you will see the mill in full operation. Feeling the vibrations of the floor as the heavy millstones spin is an experience that no textbook can give you. The millers were the elite of the village. In the Mill Valley, you will see not only the machines, but also the modest living spaces of the miller’s lodge. The original miller families (such as the Hieke and Ritschel gentlemen) farmed here for centuries. After 1945, most of the mills fell silent and began to fall into disrepair. The valley’s current appearance is the result of the painstaking work of restorers who have reassembled functioning machines from the ruins.
SMALL WATER MILL FROM HOMOLE U PANNY
A walk through the valley is a pleasant escape into nature. What you shouldn’t miss is the small water mill from Homol. It was transferred to Zubrnice to be saved. It is an example of a more modest economy, where the mill served only the needs of one family.
HOUSE WITH “FACHWERK”
The German influence is most evident in the construction of houses. While pure timber-framed houses were prevalent in the interior of Bohemia, half-timbered houses (Fachwerk) became popular in Zubrnice. This style (a wooden frame filled with stucco or bricks) was a symbol of progress and prestige in the German lands.
A unique symbiosis has emerged in Zubrnice. A Czech timbered ground floor and a German half-timbered upper floor. This “mixed architecture” is today one of the main reasons why Zubrnice is a conservation area.
HOUSE IN THE LOUNGE
The absolute dominant feature of the open-air museum is the House from Loubí. It is the largest and most complex building ever transferred to the Zubrnice open-air museum. Originally, the house stood in the village of Loubí near Česká Lípa, where it was threatened with total destruction. It is a masterpiece of folk carpentry that will take your breath away with its size. The massive two-story timber-frame house with galleries, which once served wealthy magistrates, is now brought to life with demonstrations of crafts.
In the 1990s, the house was carefully dismantled beam by beam, stone by stone, and transported to Zubrnice. Its reconstruction took years and was a masterpiece of modern carpentry and restoration. As soon as you enter the village square, you will immediately recognize it. It is the huge two-story building, which with its size overshadows even the surrounding houses. This house was not the dwelling of a poor landless person. It belonged to a rich farmer or a reeve, as every detail proves.
A fascinating feature is the carved wooden gallery that runs along the entire floor. It not only served as a means of communication between rooms, but was also a status symbol; the more ornate, the wealthier the owner.
The upper floor is a showcase of precise German timbering. White fields contrast with dark beams to create a geometric beauty that is typical of the region. The massive gable roof once housed huge stocks of grain and hay, which was crucial for surviving the winter in the harsh region. Inside the Loubí House you will find exhibits that will take your breath away with their rawness and beauty.
BLACK KITCHEN
The heart of the house, where cooking was done over an open fire. The walls are still covered in a layer of soot, giving the place an incredible atmosphere.
SITTING ROOM
A spacious living room with a tiled stove, where the entire extended family gathered. Note the painted furniture and holy pictures. Typical elements of German households in the Sudetenland.
Seasonal exhibitions of folk art, nativity scenes or historical textiles are often held upstairs. The Loubí House is a testament to what a large farm looked like. Under one roof were living rooms, cattle sheds and spacious pantries. Everything was designed so that the farmer could manage the farm without having to go outside in the cold. The original owners of Loubí were proud of their self-sufficiency. In the house you will see tools for processing flax, butter churns and fruit presses.
FRUIT GROWING
Zubrnice was famous for its fruit growing. It was the Germans who were able to ingeniously use the hilly terrain and built stone walls and terraces here, which maintained heat and moisture. In the 19th century, Zubrnice was a renowned center. Dried fruit traveled from here by wagon to the Elbe and from there by ship to Hamburg and Great Britain.
ART NOVEL APEI
The museum houses a beautiful decorated yellow-green building, which is a unique school apiary from 1899. The apiary was built in the village of Soběchleby in 1899. It was donated to the Natural History Museum by the last owner. It is a valuable part of the museum’s beekeeping collection and shows how aesthetics were once considered even in farm buildings.
If you are really interested in bees, the museum sometimes organizes special days (e.g. as part of the Autumn in the Village event), when fresh honey is sold on the premises and beekeeping experts show how bees were cared for in the past.
FARMHOUSE NO.61
At the upper end of the village square, near the Baroque well, there is a farmhouse, which is an example of a rich hop farm and is one of the most valuable objects of the open-air museum. It is a two-story half-timbered house with a high gable roof. The ground floor is brick, while the upper floor and gable are timbered. The blue-lined windows and doors are a typical decorative element for this area. And it reminded me a little of my native Moravia.
The house was built in the mid-19th century and served as a residential building with agricultural facilities. Inside, you can see what life on the farm looked like at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It includes period living rooms, kitchens with tiled stoves and utility rooms for processing hops.
CZECH HOLLYWOOD IN THE CZECH MIDLANDS
If you are familiar with the Zubrnice scenery, you are probably a film fan. And what was filmed here?
THE GOOD GUYS
The legendary film about the adventures of boys was filmed right here. The train station, where Tomáš and his gang performed their stunts, looks almost identical even today. The atmosphere of the train station and the streets will immediately transport you to the adventures of Tomáš, Hubert and Jožka.
THE RAIN FAIRY
This fairy tale used the magical atmosphere of the Zubrnice village square and the interiors of the old school.
RAILWAYS AND ARRIVAL IN GREAT STYLE
Zubrnice is not just about houses, but also about how people used to work and travel. The journey here is the destination. From Ústí nad Labem – Střekov, the historic motor train “Hurvínek” will take you along the track with the highest climb in Bohemia. The train station in Zubrnice is a small museum in itself with an exhibition on the history of railway transport.
Trains run on weekends and holidays. At the train station in Zubrnice, visit the railway museum with an exhibition of old trolley cars and the transport office.
REFRESHMENT
There is usually a stylish pub open in the village square, but the greatest experience is buying a freshly baked cake straight from the oven during craft fairs.
PRACTICAL TIPS
The open-air museum is at its most beautiful during thematic events (Easter, Christmas, Autumn in the Village). At that time, the houses are “populated” by craftsmen and old customs come to life. There are several sightseeing tours, where a separate entrance fee is charged.
Opening hours: Current times for individual months. In the high season (May–June) it is usually open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 16:00
Admission price list:
Basic circular route (I.+II.): 180 CZK adults / 360 CZK families
Large circuit (I.+II.+III.+IV.): 220 CZK adults / 440 CZK families
Discount options for students, seniors and holders of ZTP cards.
Zubrnice is a place that will force you to slow down. It is a reminder of a time when things had their permanent value and when people lived in close connection with nature and their neighbors. Whether they spoke Czech or German. Zubrnice is not grand. And that is precisely why it is strong. In a time when everything flashes, plays and competes for attention, here only houses stand. And they wait. And among them you suddenly realize that the past is not gone. You just need to go after it.
If you liked the article, I would be happy if you share it or leave a nice comment below the article.
I would also like to invite you to join me on Instagram and Facebook.
OTHER OPEN-LOOK MUSEUMS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
