Chateau’s Garden

Open-air salon

Prince Karl of Auersperg (1750–1822) was one of the wealthiest men in the monarchy and his luxury family residences as well as the adjoining parks and gardens reflected his status. In order to turn Slatiňany into a summer house that was up to his standards, Karl had the original non-residential buildings around the chateau torn down. The new English landscape park was to be reminiscent of parks in Vlašim and Wienna which he had known as a child.

In the middle of the 19th century, the park was significantly expanded, merged with the nearby game reserve, enriched with exotic woody plants and completed with places to rest or play games. The garden’s current look is the work of Franz Joseph of Auersperg (1856–1938) and his wife Wilhelmine (1857–1909) and it dates back to the turn of the 20th century. This married couple drew inspiration from the (then) new magazines such as Country Life, works of English garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, and catalogues, i.e. Garden Furniture and Ornaments which inspired the design of the Slatiňany chateau’s garden furniture. This period also saw the creation of the garden pond, the construction of the watchman’s house and the erection of the fence separating the private section of the garden from the part open to the public.

Based on available historical photographs and plans, major restoration works were carried out both in the chateau and its garden between 2017 and 2020, bringing back elements that had been destroyed and removed after the Second World War.