CNN - Czech heritage: 10 castles

A Boston man reclaims his Czech heritage: 10 castles

April 10, 1996
Web posted at: 8:40 a.m. EDT (1240 GMT)

From CNN Correspondent Bill Delaney

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (CNN) -- When Boston investment banker William Lobkowicz went on a quest to find out if his family still owned property in Prague in the Czech Republic, he had no expectations.

He certainly never dreamed that his family owned castles, including the 16th century Nelahozeves castle that was among the properties confiscated during the rise of Communism in Czechoslovakia.

In 1948, Lobkowicz's grandfather fled the Communist takeover with only his hat and the clothes on his back. Nelahozeves is one of 10 castles that belonged to the 700-year-old Lobkowicz family.

"It was a feeling of justice,' Lobkowicz said. "Not that we had all these things, not that we were going to own castles or be rich or anything like that, it was just this feeling that all the suffering that went on . . . was simply done."

Although much of the Nelahozeves castle's contents have been plundered over the years, what remains is the largest collection of Spanish portraits outside Spain, a 10th-century golden cross and innumerable other treasures -- all in need of expensive tender-loving care after decades of neglect.

"Roots -- it's where we're from," said Lobkowicz as he walked in falling snow outside the castle.

"Massachusetts, the United States is a great place. But this is where our family's from, and it needs care, it needs the family."

Lobkowicz admits it is not easy owning 10 castles.

"It's definitely a blessing and a curse. Castles are big buildings, they cost a lot of money. It costs a lot to heat them, it costs a lot to care for them." he said.

Tourists now traipse through the buildings for a fee, and the family members that once were patrons for Beethoven now sponsor a musical festival to draw visitors. A winery and a brewery have been revived with the centuries-old family crest on the label.

In the venerable halls where wealthy nobles once roamed, Lobkowicz and his wife, Alessandra, are logging many hours just to keep the castles open.

"Nobility is a state of mind, it's not something you're given," Lobkowicz said.

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A Boston man reclaims his Czech heritage: 10 castles

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