Liechtenstein Palace, Prague’s Classicist gem, opens to visitors

The first record of this beautiful building dates to the year 1555, when the Grand Prior of the Maltese Knights ceded the plot of land on the bank of the Vltava River to Jiřík Velik of Šonov. At the beginning of the 17^th century, two houses were on the site of today’s palace, neither of which survived the Thirty Years' War.

In 1684, his daughter handed it over to her husband, General František Helfried, the free lord of Kaiserstein, who had a single-storey water palazzetto constructed, with an unusual irregular hexagon around the courtyard and a gallery on the upper floor.  It was surrounded by a garden with flowers and fountains, and was probably designed by the architect Giovanni B. Alliprandi.

Liechtenstein and miller Odkolek

The palace changed hands several times in the 18^th century. One of the owners, Count Kolovrat Libštejn, sold it in 1831 to General Jan Josef, Prince of Liechtenstein. The palace bears the Liechtenstein name to this day, although it was not until the miller František Odkolek purchased the palace in 1864 that it assumed its Classicist appearance. Some Baroque elements, however, have been preserved inside.

Devastating floods

From 1897, the palace belonged to the Prague Municipality, which used it for a variety of official purposes, and made several adjustments. The last of them took place in this millennium, when the floods of the 2002 completely devastated the palace.

Visit the places where the Queen slept

The Liechtenstein Palace is currently used by the Czech Government for official functions. Ground floor halls and lounges are used for meetings and gatherings. The suites on the second floor have hosted guests such as Spanish King Juan Carlos and his wife Sophia, Queen Elisabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Japanese Emperor Akihito with Empress Michiko. Once a month, the palace is open to the public.

For further information, please visit: https://www.vlada.cz/en/.