Czech nobility (alsoBohemian nobility;Czech:česká šlechta) consists of thenoble families from historicalCzech lands, especially in their narrow sense, i.e. nobility ofBohemia proper,Moravia andAustrian Silesia – whether these families originated from those countries or moved into them through the centuries. These are connected with the history ofGreat Moravia,Duchy of Bohemia, laterKingdom of Bohemia,Margraviate of Moravia, theDuchies of Silesia and theCrown of Bohemia, the constitutional predecessor state of the modern-dayCzech Republic.

Noble titles were abolished by law (No. 61/1918 Sb. z. a n.)^[1] in December 1918, shortly after the establishment of the independentCzechoslovak Republic. The public use of noble titles could be punished by a fine or imprisonment. During the period ofNazi occupation some sections of the law No. 61/1918 were abolished and the public use of noble titles was no longer punishable as a misdemeanor.^[2] This did not last long, as the regulations from the Nazi period were abolished again after theliberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945. However shortly after thecommunist takeover the par of the law which made the public use of noble titles punishable was abolished again and the new law concerning the titles completely ignored the issue of noble titles, thus made their use possible at least in theory.^[3] However, during the Nazi period, as well as the communist one, some individual representatives of Czech noble families were persecuted. After theVelvet Revolution in 1989, the property confiscated by the communists was returned to the families of former nobility or their relatives.

The beginnings of the Czech nobility can be seen in the time of the firstPřemyslid princes and kings, i.e. in the 9th century. As a legally defined state of nobility in theCzech lands, it arose in the course of the 13th century, when members of noble families began to own newly built stonecastles. The influence of the nobility rose rapidly, which became the cause of a strained relationship between the king and the nobility during the lastPřemyslid kings and especially during the reign ofJohn of Bohemia and his grandson,Wenceslaus IV at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries.^[4]After the burning ofJan Hus in 1415, Czech society and therefore the Czech nobility was divided into two groups - Catholic and Hussite (later Protestant). Both groups were at war with each other both during theHussite Wars and long after them. After the end of the Hussite Wars and the rule of theLuxembourgers in the 1530s, the country was controlled by various noble associations. In 1452, they agreed on a land administrator, who became the nobleGeorge of Poděbrady. Five years later he was elected King of Bohemia, but disputes between the Catholic and Protestant nobility continued until the outbreak of theThirty Years' War in 1618.^[5]

The status of the nobility further increased in 1500, when the Vladislav land constitution was issued. In 1526,Ferdinand I of Habsburg was elected King of Bohemia. He, along with his successors, tried to reduce the influence of the nobility. This process was interrupted during the reign ofRudolf II in the years 1576-1611. In 1618, the Protestant part of the Czech estates started theBohemian Revolt by throwing imperial officials out of the windows ofPrague Castle. Czech Protestants were defeated in theBattle of White Mountain in 1620, and the following year 27 leaders of this rebellion were executed. Thus, the Catholic aristocracy definitively won over the Protestant aristocracy in Bohemia, but at the same time theabsolutist monarchy won over theestate monarchy.

During theThirty Years' War after the Battle of White Mountain, a large part of the Protestant nobility had their property confiscated. Many new noble families came to the Czech lands at this time, originally usually fromGermany,Italy,Spain,Austria orScotland. Of the old Czech noble families, for example, theKinsky, Sternberg,Kolowrat,Czernin,Lobkowicz,Pernštejn orLichtenstein families remained in Bohemia, while theEggenberg,Bucquoy,Colloredo-Mannsfeld, Gallas,Piccolomini,Schwarzenberg and others arrived.^[6]

From the 17th century, only the Catholic Czech nobility significantly participated in the functioning of theHabsburg Monarchy. Newly arrived families gradually identified with the Czech lands and often also with the Czech language. At the end of the 18th century, a period calledJosephinism began. His representative, the Emperor and KingJoseph II (1780-1790), initiated extensive reforms that significantly changed the position of the nobility and reduced the number of aristocratic privileges. Part of the modernization of the country was also the prioritization ofGerman at the expense ofCzech (the purpose was more efficient state administration).

During the 19th century, the Czech nobility was significantly involved in the process ofnational revival, the promotion of theCzech language and the emergence of modern Czech culture and society. Prominent representatives of the patriotic nobility were especially the Sternberg,Chotek,Schwarzenberg,Czernin,Kolowrat,Kinsky andLobkowicz. In the second half of the 19th century, representatives of these and other families became involved in emerging parliamentary activity. The patriotically oriented nobles founded the Party of the Conservative Estate, cooperating with theOld Czech Party, another aristocratic political force was the Party of the Constitutionalist Estate. In the second half of the 19th century, the ranks of the Czech nobility were expanded by successful businessmen, politicians and artists, for example the Bartoň family, the founder of theŠkoda WorksEmil Škoda, the industrialist František Rienghoffer, the leader of theOld Czech PartyFrantišek Ladislav Rieger, the composerAntonín Dvořák and the writerJaroslav Vrchlický. The representatives of this so-called new nobility, however, usually remained outside the Czech aristocracy.^[7]

After theFirst World War, the monarchy disappeared in the Czech lands and a republic was established. Most of the Czech nobility held monarchist positions, but remained loyal to the newly establishedCzechoslovak Republic. Some nobles even entered the service of the Czechoslovak Republic and worked in diplomacy (for example, representatives of theLobkowicz,Schwarzenberg and others). The Czechoslovak Republic confiscated the property of the Habsburgs and Hohenbergs, and theClam-Martinic family also lost their property. During the following years, the property was sold off and the Fürstenbergs, for example, left the country.^[8]

The turning point occurred in 1938. In response to the direct threat to the democratic state byNazi Germany, the most important noble families issued a Declaration of the members of the old Czech families on the inviolability of the territory of the Czech state. During the audience with PresidentEdvard Beneš, members of theSchwarzenberg,Lobkowicz,Kinsky,Kolowrat,Czernin, Sternberg,Colloredo-Mannsfeld, Parish, Dobrzenský, Strachwitz, and Belcredi publicly joined him. A similar statement was issued a year later, already in the occupiedProtectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. In September 1939, the National Declaration of the Czech Nobility was drawn up, in which 85 of the most important Czech noblemen from 33 noble families declared their Czech nationality. The Nazis subsequently confiscated the property of these nobles, and some then lived through the war in house internment or in concentration camps. Some nobles managed to emigrate. Part of the nobles actively participated in the domestic resistance, for example the Bořek-Dohalský brothers were murdered in a concentration camp, Karel VI Schwarzenberg or Václav Norbert Kinský participated in the anti-Nazi uprising in 1945.^[9]

In 1945, the properties of most Czech noble families were returned. However, there was a deportation of the majority of the population of German nationality, in which both the nobles who collaborated with the Nazis and the nobles who did not collaborate with the Nazis, but only claimed German nationality before the war, lost their property. For example, Trauttmansdorff,Windischgrätz, Clam-Gallas,Thurn-Taxis,Desfours, or one branch of theKinsky,Czernin andRohan families had to leave the Czech lands. Due to the growing influence of the communists inCzechoslovakia in the years 1945-1948, the return of some property was also withheld (theColloredo-Mannsfeld case), or the unjust confiscation of the primogeniture property of theSchwarzenberg family (based on the Lex Schwarzenberg Act of 1947^[10]).The Liechtenstein family is still suing theCzech Republic for seized property, as well as several other families labeled as Germans after the war.^[11][12]

In 1948, there was acommunist coup in Czechoslovakia. Subsequently, the property of all noble families was confiscated. A large part of the Czech nobility therefore emigrated (for example, theSchwarzenberg,Colloredo-Mannsfelds,Kolowrat, Hildprand, someLobkowicz or Sternberg). The nobles who stayed at home (such as theKinsky,Wratislav,Czernin, some Sternberg andLobkowicz) were variously persecuted, for example they were prevented from studying, usually they were also evicted to unsuitable dwellings. Some members of the Czech nobility were imprisoned.

After theVelvet Revolution in 1989, properties seized by the communist regime were returned to their original owners. Members of the Czech nobility who emigrated abroad returned to their estates. Some subsequently returned to public life (for example,Karel Schwarzenberg as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Member of Parliament and Senator,Michal Lobkowicz as Minister of Defense and Member of Parliament,Tomáš Czernin as Senator). Other Czech nobles devote themselves, for example, to business, culture, science, the church, or knightly orders.^[13]

The oldest founding families (numbering around twenty) of the Czech and Moravian nobility include:

• Buzici
  • Zajícové z Házmburka
  • Šelmberkové
• Benešovici
  • Lords of Dubé
  • Lords of Kravař
  • Lords of Bechyně
• Drslavici
  • Švihovští z Rýzmberka
  • Czernin family
• Hrabišici
• Hroznatovci
• Janovici
  • Kolowrats
• Markvartici
  • Lemberkové
  • Vartenberkové
  • Waldstein
• Ronovci
  • Lichtenburkové
  • Klinštejns
  • Lords of Lipé
  • Lords of Dubé
• Vítkovci
  • Lords of Hradce
  • Lords of Krumlova
  • Rosenbergs
  • Lords ofLandštejn
  • Lords of Stráže
• Zierotins and others.^[14]

• 
  Saint Adalbert (c. 956–997), the secondbishop of Prague and later a missionary among thePrussians is for his life and deeds honoured as a patron saint of three countries
• 
  Peter I of Rosenberg (?–1347), important politician and philanthropist, associated with the Book of Rosenberg, the oldest legal publication written in Czech
• 
  Jan Žižka of Trocnov and Kalich (c. 1360–1424), a small yeoman, later main commander ofHussite troops who thanks to hisinnovative tactics, although blind, didn't lose a single battle
• 
  George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (1420–1471), the only Bohemian lord who managed to gain the royal rank (via election), remembered especially for his proposal to createpeaceful all-European union of Christian states
• 
  Vojtěch I of Pernštejn (1490–1534), aristocratic magnate and supreme court master
• 
  William of Rosenberg (1535–1592), an important statesman and philanthropist, a moderate representative of the Catholic nobility in the period before the Thirty Years' War
• 
  Hagecius (1525–1600), astronomer,naturalist and personal physician of EmperorRudolph II, who invitedBrahe andKepler atPrague to scientific collaboration
• 
  Petr Vok of Rosenberg (1539–1611), the last descendant of powerful and wealth "viceroyal"Rosenberg family, benefactor of the oldest Protestant churchUnity of the Brethren
• 
  Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564–1621), writer, military leader, diplomat, traveler and composer, one of the leaders of the Estates Protestant uprising of 1618, executed after the Catholic victory in theBattle of White Mountain
• 
  Albrecht Jan Smiřický of Smiřice (1594–1618), the wealthiest lord of its era, possible candidate to the Bohemian throne and one of main heads of the anti-HabsburgBohemian Revolt
• 
  Heřman Czernin of Chudenice (1576–1651), traveler, diplomat and politician, highest provincial court master and chamberlain
• 
  Albrecht Václav von Wallenstein (1583–1634), famous military leader and politician during theThirty Years War, the first holder of titlegeneralissimo in history
• 
  Polyxena of Lobkowicz (1566–1642), née Pernštejn, most powerful and influential noblewoman of Early Modern Age inCzech history, her political engagement and intrigues have greatly helped forciblere-Catholization of Bohemia after 1620
• 
  František Antonín Sporck (1662–1738), important benefactor and visionary, founder of thehospital in Kuks
• 
  Václav Antonín of Kaunitz-Rietberg (1711–1794), statesman and diplomat, state chancellor of theHabsburg Monarchy, initiator of theDiplomatic Revolution
• 
  Josef I. Schwarzenberg (1722–1782), politician and philanthropist, founder of the Schwarzenberg Pension Institute for Employees
• 
  Jan Rudolf Czernin of Chudenice (1757–1845), patron and art collector, president of the Academy of Sciences, supreme chamber and hofmeister
• 
  Kašpar Maria of Sternberg (1761–1838), botanist, geologist, paleobotanist and founder of theBohemian National Museum in Prague (1818)
• 
  Josef Václav Radetzky von Radetz (1766–1858), Austrian field marshal and viceroy ofLombardy–Venetia, called the "Saviour of the House of Habsburg" during therevolution year of 1848 in Italy
• 
  Karl Filip Schwarzenberg (1771–1820), diplomat and military leader, victor overNapoleon in theBattle of Leipzig
• 
  Jiří Buquoy de Longueval (1781–1851), economist, writer, politician, businessman, inventor, founder of the first nature reserve in Bohemia
• 
  František Antonín Kolovrat (1778–1861), politician, prime minister
• 
  Vilemína Zaháňská von Sagan (1781–1839), salon owner, writer, supporter of the writer Božena Němcová
• 
  Cardinal Bedřich Schwarzenberg (1809–1885), Archbishop of Salzburg and Prague, theologian, mountaineer, public figure, initiator of the completion of theSt. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle
• 
  František Ladislav Rieger (1818–1903), politician, co-founder of the National Party, knighted for his merits^{[citation needed]}
• 
  Emil Škoda (1839–1900), entrepreneur and engineer, founder ofŠkoda Works – one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th c., knighted for his merits^{[citation needed]}
• 
  Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), one of the most important Czech and European music composers, knighted for his merits^{[citation needed]}
• 
  Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914), née Kinsky, peace activist and writer, the first woman awarded theNobel Peace Prize (1905) and probably the most known noblewoman of Bohemian origin
• 
  Žofie Chotková (Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg) (1868–1914), wife of the heir to the Austrian throneArchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914
• 
  Alexander Kolowrat - Krakowský (1886–1927), car racer, aviator, owner of film studios and co-owner of theLaurin & Klement car company
• 
  Adolf Schwarzenberg (1890–1950), businessman, anti-Nazi
• 
  Jindřich Kolowrat-Krakowský (1897–1996), diplomat, politician, philanthropist, anti-Nazi
• 
  Zdeněk Bořek Dohalský (1900–1945), journalist and anti-Nazi resistance fighter, executed by the Nazis in 1945
• 
  Jiří Stránský (1931–2019),^{[citation needed]} writer, screenwriter, translator
• 
  Karel Schwarzenberg (1937–2023), politician, businessman, philanthropist and fighter for human rights
• 
  František Kinský (born 1947), producer, moderator and regional politician
• 
  František Václav Lobkowicz (1948–2022), Roman Catholic priest, bishop of Ostrava-Opava
• 
  Tomáš Czernin (born 1962), businessman and politician, senator

• von Dobrá Voda, Adalbert Král (1904).Der Adel von Böhmen, Mähren und Schlesien [Aristocracy of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia](PDF) (in German). Prag: I. Taussig. Retrieved14 February 2016.
• von Meraviglia-Crivelli, Rudolf Johann (1886).Der böhmische Adel [Bohemian Aristocracy](PDF) (in German). Nürnberg: Bauer und Raspe. Retrieved14 February 2016.
• von Kadich, Heinrich Edlen; Blažek, Conrad (1899).Der mährische Adel [Moravian Aristocracy](PDF) (in German). Nürnberg: Bauer und Raspe. Retrieved14 February 2016.
• Blažek, Conrad (1887–1894).Der abgestorbene Adel der Provinz Schlesien und der O. Lausitz [Extinct Aristocracy of the Province of Silesia and Upper Lusatia] (in German). Vol. I–III. Nürnberg: Bauer und Raspe.
• Pilnáček, Josef (2010).Rody starého Slezska [Families of Ancient Silesia] (in Czech) (3rd ed.). Brno: Ivo Sperát.ISBN 978-80-904312-3-2.

• Czech nobility

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