Museum of Prince Klemens Metternich at Kynžvart and Minerals from his collection at the National Museum in Prague

Abstract

Prince Klemens Metternich (1773–1859), Austrian Foreign Minister and Chancellor, gathered large collections at his Kynžvart Castle in Bohemia. In 1827, collections of coins, minerals and rocks of former Cheb executioner Karl Huss were purchased, and a publicly accessible museum was founded in Kynžvart in 1828. Huss became the first curator of the museum. The collections were organized and exhibited. Collections also included fossils, zoological preparations and various artifacts. Other curators of the Kynžvart museum were Joachim Auer, Paul Rath and Moritz Kersten. In 1948, minerals and rocks from the Kynžvart collection were transferred to the National Museum in Prague. Today, 821 samples of minerals and 175 rock samples from the Metternich collection are stored in the National Museum’s collection.