Kynžvart Castle is a Neoclassical summer residence of the Metternich family near Lázně Kynžvart, rebuilt between 1820 and 1839.
Kynžvart Castle is a Neoclassical castle near the spa town of Lázně Kynžvart in western Bohemia, not far from Mariánské Lázně, on the edge of the Slavkovský les Protected Landscape Area. It stands about 2 km below the town and is managed by the National Heritage Institute.[1]
History
Sometime between 1585 and 1597 a Renaissance château was built in the valley below the castle. Its exact appearance is not known, but significant parts survive in the later building, for example vaults with textured plaster and other Renaissance fragments. The owner of the estate, Kryštof Jindřich the Younger of Cedvice, took part in the uprising of the Estates, and after the Battle of White Mountain the estate was therefore confiscated. In 1623 it was granted, and in 1630 ceded, to the five Metternich brothers for 66,114 imperial gulden. It remained in the Metternich family until 1945.[2]
Between 1681 and 1691 Philipp Emmerich von Metternich had a Baroque château built from the remains of the Renaissance one. It had the character of a country residence enclosed by a complex of farm buildings, with a stable in the south wing and a large hall above the gateway. In the 18th century the owners lived mainly in the Rhineland. Franz Georg Karl von Metternich inherited the estate in 1767. Because the Rhenish properties were destroyed during the Franco-Prussian war, the château was for a time the only seat of the family at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1805 Franz Georg received the monastery in Ochsenhausen as compensation.[2]
The most important owner was Chancellor Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von Metternich (1773 to 1859), Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1809, Chancellor of the Habsburg House, Court and State from 1821 to 1848, and hereditary prince from 1813. The Congress of Vienna of 1814 to 1815 took place during his time in office. He lived mainly in Vienna. The Baroque château no longer met his requirements, and it was therefore rebuilt between 1820 and 1839 in the style of Viennese Neoclassicism, to a design by Pietro Nobile, who had to respect a number of the chancellor's demands. In September 1822 the banker Salomon Rothschild gave the chancellor a loan of 900,000 gulden for 12 years at five percent interest.[2]
Tours and collections
The castle lies in one of the largest English landscape parks in the Czech Republic. The interiors include, for example, a mahogany billiard table donated by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, sculptures by Antonio Canova, a dining room with a gallery of ancestors, and panel paintings by Bernhard Strigel.[1]
The second route leads through a museum with a Cabinet of Curiosities, one of the oldest castle museums in Europe, containing almost 2,000 exhibits from around the world, including Egyptian mummies. The tour also includes one of the most important castle libraries in Bohemia, a guided tour of the park, and a tour for children.[1]