Eugen Alfons Czernin – Jindřichův Hradec

A chronological thematic exhibition mapping the life of Eugen Alfons Czernin (1892–1955), the last owner of the Jindřichův Hradec estate. Eugen Alfons was not a direct heir of the Jindřichův Hradec branch of the Czernin family – he was adopted by his childless uncle František Czernin (1857–1932). His childhood was connected to the Krkonoše region and Podkrkonoší, where the Czernin-Morzin family owned estates, as well as to Prague. In 1910 he completed his gymnasium studies on Malá Strana, then studied at the private Catholic school Stonyhurst College in Great Britain and law at the German Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. During World War I, he served in the 2nd Hussar Regiment in Galicia, Volhynia, and Romania. In 1919 he married Josefína Schwarzenbergová. Eleven thematic sections guide visitors from family roots through youth, studies in England, founding his own family and his role as estate manager, to foreign travel, his passion for hunting, and both world wars.

The exhibition presents previously unpublished photographs from the Czernin Archive, including images by renowned photographers and studios of the late 19th and early 20th centuries – Heinrich Eckert, J. F. Langhans, Carl Pietzner, and the Vienna studios Adèle and d'Ora. Authentic photographs from his military service, taken by Czernin himself, are also included. Accompanying texts for each section are supplemented by copies of archival documents from his written estate. The exhibition is organized in cooperation with the State District Archive Jindřichův Hradec. Located in the Castle Gallery on the Second Courtyard, entrance through the castle ticket office. Open daily 10:00–16:00. The exhibition runs until 19 July 2026.