Lovecký zámek Ohrada Hunting lodge

The hunting lodge Ohrada is located about two kilometers from Hluboká nad Vltavou, on the shore of the Munický pond, in close proximity to the zoological garden. It is a national cultural monument and houses a museum of forestry, hunting, and fishing, which falls under the National Agricultural Museum.

The baroque lodge was built between 1708 and 1713 by Prince Adam František Schwarzenberg. The project was designed by Prague architect Pavel Ignác Bayer, and Anton Erhard Martinelli contributed to the completion. The prince wanted to have facilities near his residence in Hluboká for coursing hunts and hunting festivities.

Construction proceeded in stages. First, an armory was built, then side wings with stables and kennels, and finally the main building with a hunting hall and the chapel of Saint Eustace. The chapel was originally supposed to be located by the southern wing, where the road to Bezdrev runs today. However, no one approved the road relocation, so the chapel was eventually built on the first floor of the lodge. Its ceiling with a motif of the Holy Trinity was painted in 1715 by Georg Werle. The altarpiece is a work by Flemish painter Pieter van Roy.

To decorate the interior, the prince invited a number of renowned artists. The stuccowork was created by Franz Carobbio, the fireplaces by Oldřich Mánes, and Georg Werle painted the ceiling fresco depicting the legend of the goddess of the hunt, Artemis. Large oil paintings from the studio of Johann Georg Hamilton once adorned the hall, but today they are in Austria.

Adam František died in 1732. During a hunt, he was fatally wounded by an unfortunate accident caused by Emperor Charles the Sixth himself. Nevertheless, the lodge continued to serve hunting purposes.

The museum was created thanks to forestry adjunct Václav Špatný. His outstanding taxidermy work prompted Prince Jan Adolf the Second to establish a public forestry and hunting museum. It opened on October 15, 1842, making Ohrada the second oldest museum in Bohemia, right after the National Museum. Špatný became its first director, and the collections of antlers and hunting artifacts continued to grow. In 1939, a small zoological garden was established at the museum, focusing on Central European fauna.

Over the years, the lodge also served the forestry office and was used as a military hospital several times. At the beginning of the Second World War, it was seized by German authorities. In 1947, it passed to the state along with the rest of the Schwarzenberg property. Since 1961, the museum has been managed by today's National Agricultural Museum. In 1964, forestry and hunting collections from Konopiště lodge and fishing collections from Kačina were added. The permanent exhibitions today present approximately two thousand objects over more than one thousand square meters.