The Schönborn Palace () in the

Malá Strana Malá Strana ( Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", ) or historically Menší Město pražské () is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods. In the Middle Ages, it was a dominant center o ...

district of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

is the current home of the United States Embassy to the Czech Republic. The first United States Minister to Czechoslovakia was Richard Crane, the grandson of a Chicago plumbing millionaire. Crane, who had acquired the palace at the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, sold the building in 1925 to the United States Government for $117,000.

History

Rudolf von Colloredo Rudolf Hieronymus Eusebius von Colloredo-Waldsee, born 2 November 1585 in České Budějovice, Kingdom of Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), was a Bohemian nobleman and the brother of Hieronymus von Colloredo-Waldsee. A member of the Collored ...

built the present palace between 1643 and 1656 on the site of an earlier building that had been destroyed during the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...

. Having lost a leg at the Battle of Lutzen, the count had the flight of steps leading to the first garden terrace built with a special incline to enable him to ride into his palace on horseback. The palace was ultimately inherited by the

Schönborn family Schönborn may refer to: Places * Schönborn, Brandenburg, in the Elbe-Elster district, Brandenburg * Bad Schönborn, in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg * Schönborn, Rhein-Hunsrück, in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, Rhineland-Pa ...

, from whom it took its present name. Writer

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

lived and worked in the palace in 1917. The last inhabitant was Count Carl Johann Schönborn (1890–1952), grand nephew of Cardinal Franziskus Schönborn of Prague and grandfather of Cardinal

Christoph Schönborn Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Schönborn, OP (; born 22 January 1945) is a Bohemian-born Austrian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Vienna from 1995 until 2025. He was chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conferen ...

of Vienna, who sold the property in 1919, after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, to Richard Teller Crane II, who served as US ambassador from 1919 until 1921 and sold it to the United States Government in 1924. American diplomat

George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...

, in his memoir, wrote that when he arrived in Prague in 1938, there were beautiful terraced gardens behind the palace. The garden had an orchard which contained a structure called the Glorietta. From that location, there was a view of the Charles Bridge in one direction and the

Hradčany Hradčany (; ), is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history stretches back to the 9th century. St ...

Castle in another.

Gallery

File:Schönbornský palác v Praze 02.JPG, The palace in 2012 File:Tržiště, směr Břetislavova.jpg, The palace in winter File:US embassy Prague 2847.JPG, The front entrance File:Petrin Hill from St Vitus.JPG, The garden is visible on the Petrin Hill Prague 07-2016 View from Lesser Town Nicholas Church img6.jpg, Glorietta

References

External links

*
U.S. Embassy website
- information about the palace {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonborn Palace (Prague) Register of Culturally Significant Property United States Department of State Palaces in Prague