The story of this place
A medieval fortress remodelled over centuries, Konopiště was bought in 1887 by Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, who turned it into a lavish country residence for himself and his beloved but morganatically-married wife Sophie. An obsessive hunter, he shot around 300,000 head of game in his life and covered the castle walls with tens of thousands of antlers and trophies. He also amassed one of Europe's finest collections of art depicting St George. From here the couple set out in June 1914 for Sarajevo, where both were shot dead on 28 June — the assassination that triggered the July Crisis and the outbreak of the First World War. The rooms remain almost as they left them.