Kunín Chateau

Kunín Chateau

A Baroque gem of North Moravia

Kunín Chateau is one of the most valuable Baroque chateaux of North Moravia and Silesia. It was designed by the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, who is also author of the famous Belvedere and other palaces in Vienna. The Kunín Chateau was built between 1726-1734 for Countess Maria Eleonora Harrach.  
The Baroque chateau in North Moravia had its heyday at the turn of the 18th and 19th century when it was owned by an enlightened aristocratic family who founded there one of the most modern educational institutions in Central Europe at that time. Its best known student was Czech historian František Palacký, whose portrait is featured on the thousand-crown banknote.

Some time ago the chateau was acquired by the village of Kunín, which started renovating it with the aim of returning the original historical collections to it and opening it to the public. And their efforts bore fruit. The exposition you can now see presents historical collections in halls decorated with paintings in the Classicist and Empire style, the classrooms of the chateau schools, guestrooms, the chateau owner’s daughters’ room, church corridor, tearoom, yellow bedroom, the big hall with a library and gallery and the art gallery with portraits of the Hohenems family. A visit to the chateau ends in the attic, where you can see unique chimney systems designed by the architect Hildebrandt.

The chateau also hosts exhibitions and concerts of Baroque music. One historical point of interest is that the second flight of a hot air balloon in Czech territory began here in 1786.