"Archduke Franz Ferdinand's chateau" Konopiste by Dabs

Konopiste Travel Guide: 2 reviews and 6 photos

Our 2nd stop on the way back driving from Ceske Budejovice to Prague was Konopiste, the chateau that was home to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie until their death. If the name sounds familiar it's because his assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 is widely reported to be the catalyst for the start of World War I.

The Archduke chose to live here after he chose to marry beaneath his status, Sophie was a mere countess and not an archduchess. They were allowed to marry on the condition that the marriage would be morganatic which means that his titles and privileges would not pass to his wife and that their descendants would not have succession rights to the throne.

Konopiste garden lion

I had not heard of Konopiste until we drove past the brown highway sign that marks a place of interest, when I looked it up in the guidebook, I thought it warranted a stop. I was surprised when we drove down the quiet leafy lane to the chateau when we found the parking lot and it was crammed with tourists and kiosks, horse drawn carriages and a tram to take you to the chateau.

Konopiste peacock

Even if you don't opt for a tour of the interior, you can have a look around the garden for no charge, in late May there wasn't much of interest in the garden except for a male peacock strutting through the garden and a female peacock trying to get as far away from him as possible, alas when she jumped into the tree, he jumped up right after her...

Last visit to Konopiste: May 2008
Intro Updated Jun 5, 2008
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Reviews (2)

Tour the chateau Things to Do (1)

There are three different tours of the chateau, when we arrived later in the afternoon, we just missed Tour 1 in English... more travel advice

Getting there Transportation (1)

Konopiste is well marked from the highway, it was easy to find the parking lot with a charge for parking of 60kc (around... more travel advice

Comments (7)

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GentleSpirit Aug 8, 2012 at 5:28 AM

Well done, thanks for explaining why Franz Ferdinand lived there. I didnt know about that sort of marriage and what it meant for succession rights.
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HORSCHECK Apr 20, 2012 at 3:25 PM

Kristi, lovely little page here. I didn't know that Archduke Franz Ferdinand lived here.
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balhannah Sep 23, 2010 at 3:07 PM

The Chateau sounds and looks nice, thanks for the tour.
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LoriPori Jun 22, 2008 at 6:49 AM

Looks like you had a lovely tour of the Chateau. Too bad you couldn't do the English version. Better than missing it all together.
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deecat Jun 19, 2008 at 1:02 PM

I liked your idea of the "reincarnated badger"! Too bad you could not do the English tour...the place looks good and I especially like the photo of the grounds.
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Hopkid Jun 15, 2008 at 10:54 AM

What? You didn't eat in Konopiste? I was so looking forward to a restaurant review...
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angiebabe Jun 14, 2008 at 5:53 AM

Majority ruled and with a car of load of friends who reckoned this was just another castle we didnt get in to see - nice to see your tip for a bit of a look with you instead!