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Coat of arms of the family

Kolowrat-Krakowsky (Czech: Kolowrat-Krakowští) is an historic Bohemian family from Central Europe. It is a branch of the Kolowrat family.

The Kolowrat family originated in Central Bohemia, in what is today the Czech Republic, in the 13th century.

The Kolowrat-Krakowsky branch of the Kolowrat family still exists today in the Czech Republic and the United States. Over the past 600 years, this family branch has produced:

Branches of Kolowrat family

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Kolowrat family split into eight family branches. Of these eight branches, only the Krakowsky branch, the largest one, survived into the 21st century. The branches were:

Early history

The three Albrechts

Albrecht the Older is considered the founder of the Kolowrat family He was born in the 13th or 14th century in the village of Kolovraty in what is today the Czech Republic. Hence the name "Kolowrat".

Albrecht served as a hetman, a court marshal of Anna of Schweidnitz, and an assessor of the provincial and royal feudal court. In 1347, when Rožmitál castle was sold, Albrecht was mentioned as an assessing witness. He married three times and had eight children. Albrecht's six sons laid the foundation of the Kolowrat family.

In 1373, Albrecht the Younger established an Augustinian monastery of the Assumption in Ročov, where he was later buried.

Albrecht I (1422–1470) acquired Krakovec castle near what is today Krakovec, Czech Republic. The name "Krakowsky" derives from the castle name. Albrecht was the founder of the Kolowrat-Krakowský branch.

Leopold Vilém and sons

A much later descendent, Count Leopold Vilém (1727–1809), was a close friend of the Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresia and a holder of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Vilém married twice and had 17 children,

Count František Xaver (1783–1855), Villam's youngest son, is the common ancestor of all living Kolowrat-Krakowsky descendents.

Modern history

Leopold Filip and Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky

Leopold Filip Kolowrat-Krakowsky (1852–1910) became the administrator of the family property in the second half of the 19th century. He was a member of the Imperial Council of the Austro-Hungarian Emprire and later serve in the Bohemian Assembly. Leopold Filip was a Second Class Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown. Apart from the Přimda estate and the estate in Klatovsko, he also administered the Kolowrat Palace and the New Kolowrat Palace in Prague.

Alexander Kolowrat-Krakowsky (1886–1927), Leopold Filip's oldest son, inherited the Kolowrat-Krakowsky estate became his oldest son. Alexander, called Sascha, was a successful car and motorcycle racing driver but also a film producer. Sascha founded the Sascha-Film company, which discovered actor Marlene Dietrich. As a racing driver, Sascha received many awards and became the right hand of car builder Václav Klement. In Sascha's honor, an annual gathering of antique cars, is held in Přimda.

Jindřich Kolowrat-Krakowsky

When Sascha died of cancer in 1927, his brother, Jindřich Vilém Kolowrat-Krakowsky (1897–1996), became administrator of the family estate. A builder, Jindřich erected the Functionalist-styled Palace Chicago in Prague. He founded the Wooden Houses Kolowrat company, where he employed 600 permanent workers.

In 1943, the German-controlled government of Czechoslovakia nationalized the Kolowrat-Krakowsky estate, removing it from Jindřich's control. After the end of World War II in 1945, President Edvard Beneš of the new Czechoslovak government returned the estate to Jindřich. He would serve as ambassador to as the Czechoslovak ambassador to Turkey until 1948, when emigrated with his family to the United States.

In February 1948, the new Czechoslovak Socialist Republic nationalized the Kolowrat-Krakowsky estate again. In 1950, the government dissolved the Wooden Houses Kolowrat. In 1960, the Diana hunting lodge owned by the family was converted into a retirement home.

In 1992, after the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the Kolowrat-Krakowsky estate was returned to the Kolowrat-Krakowsky family. Jindřich and his youngest son, František Tomáš Kolowrat-Krakowsky (1943–2004) returned to Czechoslovia. In 1991, Jindřich had received the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Second Class, from President Václav Havel. In 1993, Jindřich rented the Kolowrat Palace to the National Theatre in Prague for one Czech Crown per year.

František Kolowrat-Krakowsky

After Jindřich died in 1996 at age 98, František became his successor. He was the only one of Jindřich's children who returned permanently to the Czech Republic.

František repaired the Hraničky Ponds and the Václavský Pond, which came to be used in the Přimda Triathlon. He built private wood roads that became cycle paths that connect different areas of the Upper Palatine Forest. In an effort to increase tourism and develop Přimda, František bought the ruins of Přimda castle and converted it into Mountain Hotel Kolowrat.

In 1997, František bought three new bells for the Roman St. George's Church in Přimda, as the original bells had been destroyed after World War II. He made a significant donation to the Czech Red Cross after flooding in the Czech Republic in 2002. František supported other charities, schools, cultural organizations

In 2001, the Forestry of František Tomáš Kolowrat-Krakowsky was ranked in the top 100 companies of agricultural production, food industry and forestry. He was recognized by Comenius – the Pan-European Society for Culture, Education and Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

František died prematurely in 2004. After his death, Dominika Kolowrat-Krakowska became the new administrator of the family property.

Important personalities

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kolowrat Krakowsky family.
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