6 July 2019: Kladruby Imperial Stud Farm added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
In 1563, the Holy Roman Emperor Maxmillian II of Habsburg founded a stud farm in Kladruby nad Labem which his successor, Emperor Rudolph II of Habsburg, granted a charter in 1579, elevating it to the status of Imperial Court Stud Farm. The stud farm was taken over by the state in 1918 when Czechoslovakia gained independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
On 6 July, the Kladruby stud farm, or the Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem, as it is formally inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, is celebrating five years of UNESCO World Heritage status. But not only that – the stud farm will actually have several reasons to celebrate. It will also be 20 years since it started collaborating with the Swedish Royal Cavalry Guard, 30 years since it started collaborating with the Danish royal stables, and 150 years since Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Empress Elisabeth of Austria last visited the property.
The area is used for breeding and training Baroque draught horses of the Kladruber breed, which dates back to 1579 and continues to this day. The horses were originally bred for the ceremonial purposes of the Habsburg Imperial Court, but the stud farm still has clients among European royalty even nowadays, with the elegant white horses on display at the ceremonial appointment of the new Danish king in January of this year, for example.
The UNESCO site receives tens of thousands of visitors a year, with a record 84,647 in 2023. The historical buildings have now been restored to the way they looked at the end of the 19th century, and this year visitors can also enjoy a new visitor centre and children's playground.
