The Fürstenberg Palace [antikvár]

ForewordWe find the following passage in Angelo Maria Ripellino's enthralling erudite and manneristic book "Magic Prague", in chapter 80, devoted to Baroque architecture: "Mala Strana and the green slope of Petfin Hill were converted into a sort of boite perspective or boite d'optique in which each part fitted marvellously into the whole and the fine buildings were graced with terraced gardens - like those of the Furstenbergs and the Vrtbas - from which the nobility looked out over Prague as if from dress-circle loges."It is a sentence that often comes to mind, and whenever I pass through the ornate iron gate separating the premises of the Polish embassy from ValdStejnska Street I am halted in my tracks in wonderment and admiration at the surrounding scenery. Being at a theatre performance truly sums up the feeling I have at that moment. The slope of the castle hill soaring up steeply like the crown of a Greek amphitheatre represents the auditorium for this astonishing performance, and the palace with its surrounding gardens assumes the role of natural decoration. It is at its most beautiful, however, in the evening after sunset. The brighly illuminated walls of the Hradcany houses - the Lobkowitz Palace and Noblewomen's Institution - then look like part of fairytale scenery cut out of shiny material and hung up against the background of the night sky.Many "actors" of greater or lesser renown - owners and guests, architects and masterbuilders, users and tenants of the Maid Strana estate - passed through here over the course of four centuries. The house that was originally built by the Berkas in the 17th century gradually passed into the hands of other noble families, including the Vrbnas, the Netolices and the Furstenbergs. Almost all of them - as we learn from the information in the subsequent chapters - left some mark on either the architecture of the palace or its surroundings. This fascinating legacy is now out of bounds to the general public. The reason is obvious - the status of the embassy, which has been here since 1954 does not permit unrestricted access to the embassy building or the surrounding gardens. My hope is that the present publication will help remove those barriers somewhat. I think it is one way for the Furstenberg Palace - that mute witness of several centuries of Czech history - to open its doors to those interested in taking a look inside.The past of the Mala Strana residence is described in four chapters which are the fruit of enormous commitment by the publication's co-authors. The first introduces us to each of the owners and tenants of the palace. The final version of that section is very much the work of a leading expert on Czech public records, Dr. Pavel Zahradnik. Among the figures brought to life in the pages of that chapter are also the Polish diplomats who have represented the interests of the Polish Republic in this former residence of the Berkas and Furstenbergs for over half a century. And they too undoubtedly are part of the palace's history.