Art

The Lobkowicz Collections

Lobkowicz Collections, o.p.s. is the non-profit entity which manages the Lobkowicz Collections, one of Europe’s oldest and finest private art collections, comprised of items dating back over 2,000 years. The Collections include exceptional fine and decorative arts, arms, musical instruments and manuscripts, a 65,000-volume library, and historic archives—built upon centuries of patronage and stewardship.

The Collections were confiscated under the Nazi and Communist regimes of the 20th century. After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the family returned to then Czechoslovakia and began the restitution process to reclaim, reassemble, and restore the Collections, permanently opening these previously hidden treasures to the public, for the first time in history. The Collections are currently exhibited at the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle and Nelahozeves Castle.

The Lobkowicz Collections reflect the cultural, political, and economic life of Central Europe for centuries. Highlights among its 20,000 items include world-famous paintings by Bruegel, Canaletto, Cranach, Rubens, and Velázquez, medieval and Renaissance works of art, exceptional arms and armor, and ceramics, such as the largest-surviving 17th-century Delft dinner service in the world. An unparalleled collection of musical instruments, manuscripts, and printed editions of scores, parts, and libretti dating from the 17th–19th centuries, is crowned by hand-annotated works by Mozart and Beethoven.

Mission: Making culture and heritage relevant for current and future generations by preserving, studying, and sharing the Lobkowicz Collections with the world.

20,000 objects
65,000 books
5,000 printed musical scores, parts, and manuscripts
30,000 archival boxes and folios

Lobkowicz Library & Archives

Conservation & Restoration

Lobkowicz Music Archive

Curator Challenge

The Curator Challenge is a program that allows students to assume the role of curators to inspect, document, and research an uncatalogued object from the Lobkowicz Collections. Their task is to determine what the objects are, how they were used historically, and what impact they had on society.

Treasures of the Lobkowicz Collections

Discover the treasure trove that is the Lobkowicz Collections with a guided tour of the permanent exhibition at the Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle. Students will be introduced to selected themes and objects on display.

Pernstein Salon Tour

Just like the ruling Habsburgs, the Pernstein family left an indelible mark on Bohemian culture and history—beginning with the arrival of the Spanish noblewoman Maria Manrique de Lara y Mendoza, wife of Vratislav Pernstein, to Prague in the 16th century.

Portrait in Music

Calling all music lovers! Discover the rich musical heritage of the Lobkowicz Collections and family as told in the music galleries of the permanent exhibition at the Lobkowicz Palace. The tour will introduce you to a chronological musical narrative that spans over 300 years, as well as the influential musical happenings in Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

Discovering the Lobkowicz Collections

Join us for a playful guided tour of Nelahozeves Castle, introducing you to a range of subjects and historical objects that span the vast Lobkowicz Collections. Individual tasks, combined with an accompanying worksheet, relate to the subjects of music, fine and decorative arts.

The Looming Noon Witch

“By the bench there stood an infant…” This famous opening verse of Czech poet and folklorist Karel Jaromír Erben’s poem Polednice (“The Noon Witch”) inspired Antonín Dvořák to create his own symphonic rendition. This program invites you to discover the words that united these two celebrated figures from Czech history who shared a passion for folklore.

Outdoor Adventures with Little Antonín

Travel back in time to the 1840s and explore the village of Nelahozeves through the eyes of Antonín Dvořák. Using a mobile app to serve as your musical map, discover the treasured places that inspired one of the world’s greatest composers by fulfilling a series of tasks throughout your journey.

Melodies of Childhood: Walking in the Footsteps of Antonín Dvořák

Step into the shoes of a young and impressionable Antonín Dvořák to discover the places that shaped him and his future music. As you meander through Nelahozeves, you will uncover the hidden stories of his childhood—helping his parents in the inn, studying music in the local school, and the excitement of watching trains go by on the newly constructed railroad.

Cabinet of Curiosities

Discover cabinets of curiosities—the Renaissance precursors to modern museums and art collections as we know them today. These cabinets included rare and exotic objects representing the natural wonders and oddities of the world. This program allows students to learn about the history of these cabinets and their contents (including when, how, and who first created them) by studying a fascinating example from the Lobkowicz Collections: xylotheque.

Research

The Lobkowicz Collections and Library & Archives offer unparalleled resources for research.

We recognize the important contribution that scholars and researchers make to fields such as history, art history, and science. In addition to in-house research, we welcome and collaborate with an international community of scholars, researchers, and institutions to advance knowledge, develop new tools, methods, and solutions, encourage discourse, and contribute to the broader context of cultural heritage.

The Lobkowicz Library & Archives is open, by prior appointment, to visiting scholars, researchers, and university students in thesis programs for general or specialized research. Special visits and lectures are also arranged periodically.

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Art & Care

Our conservation and restoration work are an essential part of our mission to preserve, study, and share the Lobkowicz Collections with the world.

Restoring allows us to bring damaged cultural heritage back to life.
Preserving safeguards cultural heritage–and its stories–for future generations.
Sharing makes cultural heritage accessible to the world.
Engaging offers meaningful experiences with culture through events, research, and education.
Creating something new, inspired by the past, invites others to participate.
Building and rebuilding community connects us to one another.

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