Nelahozeves Chateau

Nelahozeves Chateau

Nelahozeves Castle is one of Bohemia’s finest 16th-century Renaissance castles, located 35 km north of Prague. It is situated above the Vltava River, overlooking the birth house of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. It houses an exhibition displaying part of the Lobkowicz Collections. Its historical rooms, courtyards, and gardens are used throughout the year as venues for private and corporate events, weddings, educational programming, and annual festivals.

Built over a 60-year period (1553–1614), the castle came into the Lobkowicz family in 1623, when Princess Polyxena Lobkowicz, née Pernstein (1566–1642), bought the property from the granddaughter of its original owner, Florian Griesbeck of Griesbach. The building remained in the family until it was confiscated by the Nazis in 1939 and again after 1948 by the Communists. The castle was restituted to the family in 1993. Four years later, the Lobkowiczes opened the castle and collections to the public.  

The castle’s current permanent exhibition, Private Spaces: A Noble Family at Home, was re-installed in 2007. Inspired by the era of Ferdinand Zdenko, 10th Prince Lobkowicz (1858–1938), twelve period rooms illustrate how a Czech noble family lived in the 19th century. The tour features books from the Lobkowicz Library, Old Master paintings by Brueghel, Rubens, Veronese, Cranach the Younger, and Panini, fine furniture, unusual hunting trophies, and a vast arms collection.

 The grounds of Nelahozeves Castle offer a variety of outdoor activities and services, including a children’s playground, food and beverages with outdoor seating, walking trails through the castle park, and resources and charging stations for bikers.

Visitors can also rent various accommodation options on the grounds, including castle apartments, the Scholars’ Residence (a renovated former rectory), and the Marina on the Vltava River, for leisure, education programs, or business retreats.