Hidden in Plain Sight: Lobkowicz Palace

Prague Castle, the most visited tourist spot in the Czech Republic, is huge. It's a castle complex, made up of over a dozen buildings--a cathedral, multiple palaces, several churches, gardens, the works. As such, it's easy to get rather overwhelmed and confused. However, near one of the exits, there's a palace that's definitely worth taking some time to explore. Or, even better, worth making the focus on your visit, especially if you've already seen the highlights.

That's it there on the end. The red box was added by me--it's not actually there. Photo magic!

What you see as you walk past. It's very near the castle exit, and you'll miss it completely if you walk down Golden Lane. (Which is something you shouldn't do anyway.)

Lobkowicz Palace, as the name suggests, is a palace that was built and owned by the Lobkowicz family. However, unique among all the buildings in Prague Castle, it is *still* owned by the Lobkowicz family--it's the only privately owned building in the castle. That does mean that admission to Lobkowicz Palace isn't included in any of the Prague Castle packages, so you'll have to pay separately. That said, entrance to the castle grounds is free, so it's well worth making a trip there just to see what Lobkowicz Palace has to offer.

The answer: quite a bit.

(You can skip this paragraph is the lineage of noble families bores/angers/confuses you.)

The Lobkowicz family is an old one, tracing its ancestry back to the 15th century, when a scribe called Mikuláš z Újezda (Nicholas of Újezda--nicknamed "The Poor") was given the title to the village Lobkovice and he started calling himself Nicholas of Lobkowicz. Along with the village, he got a castle, and a hereditary line was born. The next few centuries were good ones for the Lobkowicz family, as they acquired possessions and position. Lobkowicz Palace itself was acquired through an advantageous marriage. It's with the rise of the Catholic Hapsburgs and the end of the Protestant-Catholic War sparked by the Second Defenestration of Prague that the Lobkowicz family truly came into its own, however. The Lobkowiczes--at least this branch--were Catholics. Indeed, after the Defenestration, the Catholic envoys who had been chucked out by the Bohemian catholics holed up at Lobkowicz Palace.

The lady of the house, Polyxena, protected them from further assault. The original painting is in Lobkowicz Palace.

(Ditto.)

The Emperor at this time elevated the family to Prince-level, and they were still there, wealthy and influential, when the Hapsburg Empire ended and the free Czechoslovakia was created. The family supported the new government, even though they eventually lost their titles and just became ordinary mega-rich people. However, both the Nazis and the Communists seized all of the Lobkowicz properties, and the family fled, returned, and fled again, eventually settling in America. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the current heir, William Lobkowicz, a Boston-born, Harvard-educated businessman, returned to Czechoslovakia and reclaimed the family's lands. Different branches got different properties, and some were sold to pay for the others, but William worked to put the family back on a very solid footing. Many of their properties are now open to the public in some way, with Lobkowicz Palace being their highest profile museum.

(You can come back now.)

The museum has a distinctly American vibe, with the audio tour being provided by William Lobkowicz and, at times, his wife Alexandra, walking you through his family's history and home. And, of course, their massive collection of paintings, porcelains, religious artifacts, weapons, decorative arts, and musical instruments.

For example, one of the Lobkowicz ladies was a talented amateur painter, and she painted her female relatives. It makes for an interesting collection.

There are a few highlights of the collection that you'll definitely want to check out when you go, but they may differ person by person. The little brochure the museum gives you actually includes a "highlights only" tour, which I think it rather self-effacing of them, considering it's their own stuff their saying it less important. I'll walk you through all of it--in quick succession--then you can play your trip more easily. 

The museum is roughly laid out chronologically, with the first room being a lot of family portraits of the early Princes, their wives, and ancestors. If you skipped the paragraphs above, you can move quickly through this room.

The next room is the family's porcelain/china collections. Again, your mileage may vary.

You'll know pretty quickly if this isn't your room.

After the porcelain comes the family's collection of religious artifacts, including some reliquaries and similar items.

Again, this room is either your thing or very much not.

The following two rooms display the family's impressive and rather confusing assortment of small arms.

Very much not my thing--but maybe yours!

After the weapons, however, there's the music room. There are musical instruments of all sorts, many dating back to the late 1700s, during the life of the 7th Prince Lobkowicz. The 7th Prince loved music, loved performing, and supported Beethoven financially. In addition to manuscript copies--with Beethoven's own performing notes--of various works, there's Mozart's transposition of Handel's Messiah, along with other manuscripts of the period. The audio guide is exceptionally good in this room, and there's an additional interactive display that goes deep for us music lovers. Best room in the museum for my money.

The juxtaposition of weapons and music is...interesting.

The next few rooms are probably the artistic highlights of the collection, including Haymaking by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

You know a painting is famous when it has a Wikipedia page.

and two London scenes by the Italian cityscape artist Canaletto.

Not quite as famous, but still a very pretty painting.

The rest of the museum can probably be taken at speed, honestly. There's a room of lovely paintings made by a female Lobkowicz of her female friends and family, which has a nice touch of reclaiming women's history to it, but otherwise, the rooms are all a little...odd? There's a bird room--full of bird paintings; a dog room, ditto; a room with Chinese screens; some 18th/19th century family portraits; a small "Chinese folly; and some snuffboxes and other bric-a-brac collected by rich folks. This is definitely a front-loaded museum.

However, the last few stops on the tour are also excellent, with the reception hall (I guess?), music room (sometimes closed for concerts), and adjoining family chapel all featuring lovely frescoes. Moreover, the terrace--which is included in the audio tour, wherein William will tell you tales of old Prague as you look out over the city--has one of the best views around.

There's also a cafe on this level, which is covered and has heat lamps and blankets, meaning you can enjoy the view any time of year. Well, if you're hearty.

If only for the Beethoven and Mozart collection alone, Lobkowicz Palace ranks as one of my favorite spots in Prague. Add that to the rest of the collection, the view, the charm of the audio guide, and the fact that the museum isn't mobbed like the rest of the Castle, and it's become the little secret treat I share with visitors.

So, now I'm sharing it with you. But please, don't tell anyone else--you'll spoil it.

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