Memorial service for Karel Schwarzenberg takes place in Vienna

A memorial service for Karel Schwarzenberg was held on Saturday at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, led by the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. An estimated several hundred people attended the packed ceremony, including members of the Schwarzenberg family, the current and former Austrian presidents, and the Czech ambassador to Austria, Jiří Šitler.

Schönborn, who, like Schwarzenberg, comes from the Czech branch of an aristocratic family and was born in the Czech Republic, later emigrating with his family to Austria, described the former Czech foreign minister as a great man, a patriot and a European.

Karel Schwarzenberg died on November 12 in Vienna at the age of 85. His official funeral mass was held last Saturday in St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle, after which his family buried the urn containing his ashes in a private ceremony at Orlík Castle in South Bohemia.