Castle Kynzvart - Kynzvart Museum of History (18)

The Kynzvart curio cabinet conceals hundreds and thousands of unique objects which already astonished the visitors of the castle museum in the time of Prince Metternich. The use of the original archive catalog, the original handwritten inventory books and documents now helps to clarify the origin and history of many notable old and exotic curiosities and give back to them their long forgotten histories.

© Dr. Milos Riha, castle steward of the Castle Kynzvart (Koenigswart), Czech Republic, 2004
© Translation: Jack Heller, 2006

(18) How the white rock has disappeared German / Deutsch Czech / Cesky: The Kynzvart castle of Chancellor Metternich is surrounded by an extensive English park. The romantic foot path around the millpond with its island and the pair of swans lure thousands of tourists every season for a stroll, a few go also a bit further to the forest chapel at the Holy Cross or to the monument of the two Emperors on the Franzensberg. A series of places inside the park as in this immediate vicinity have their own history or unusual, almost forgotten names as well. And a few stones bear names.

As you head from Kynzvart (Koenigswart) over a shortcut to the railroad station, you pass by a place which was first designated as “Irlat” or more accurately “Erlich” - today we could designate it as “to the alder grove”. Here it’s impossible for you to overlook a colossal granite block. If you go further you pass by broad, similar stone blocks on the way to the heath pond which received its name from the local barren area heath rocks; today this place is known as “at the boulders” and “Zajecak”. One finds these stones further in the castle park. Above the castle you find at the Maierberg where the forest chapel at the Holy Cross stands, an overlook as well as a little teahouse. A few blocks were worked on in the past that along with the chiseled-in observation point steps, they constitute the natural stone wall of the chapel or stone benches.

By the northwest edge of the castle park is a hill, originally the Antonsberg, renamed Franzenberg in 1835. On the occasion of the visit of the Austrian emperor Ferdinand the Gracious the already mentioned Franz monument was designated as “Obelisk” or “Monument of the two Emperors”. Supposedly from here there was a quite beautiful view of the castle. Found nearby, a further granite block “Rock of the Princess Pascaline”, a granddaughter of Chancellor Metternich, who in 1890 came to a tragic demise. If you then go further in the direction of the lower Zandov (Sandau, town in Czech Republic) you come to the ore smelter hill. All these stones lie from primeval times by these places as mute witnesses to times long past. They gave rise to stories about the beautiful maiden Magdalene and her hateful uncle, to tales of hateful devils, dwarfs and the giant Kobr from the Emperor's forest.

From the castle a path leads north through the park, the so-called “bird avenue” whence to the best known natural monument in the countryside the so-called “white stone”. From this once gigantic rock shaped from silica of blended white colors, whose old sources jutted out for many meters over the flat land along the path from Kynzvart to Uboci and glowed far into the distance have survived still only as miserable remnants. Originally it was a matter of a ridge of the locale, itself broad extended silica stone deposits whose pure, pink shimmering silica was mined up to the year 1905 by the Heller glass factory. There this iron free silica for porcelain and glass production is very valuable. The entire rock was blasted but not only the part which lay exposed on the earth’s surface but also a good part of the pegmatite vein which extended far into the depth until ground water made further exploitation impossible.

When the blasting of the “white stone” commenced, Dr. V. Brehm came here with the goal of mining this pink silica. To his great surprise he found in the blasted material precious beryl, in addition minerals of manganese, iron and lithium phosphate, the very scarce fluorite, as well as other minerals. After exhausting all the findings, in 1930 he noticed under the protection of the shade of a group of trees at the “white stone” an entire museum of scarce and interesting minerals lying around. Of that only the place name remains. Instead of the white stone there was soon a deep hole full of water. Our generation has filled the existing grave with building rubble and the once so enchanting way from Kynzvart became an impassable moonscape. The general purpose vehicles of the army as well as the tractors plough a rough way across the flat land.

We probably should not allow that. One should clean up the mess and one should return to the stones and sites their history. In recent times I cannot free myself from the thoughts that these stones await this from us.

Continuation follows - Further history Proceeding history Museum of Stories / List (German)

Kynzvart Castle, CZ-35491 Lazne Kynzvart
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