The House of Kinsky is a prominent Czech noble family originating from the Kingdom of Bohemia. During the Thirty Years' War, the Kinsky family rose from minor nobles to comital rank (1628) and later princely status (1747) under the rule of the Habsburgs. The family, recorded in the Almanach de Gotha, is considered to have been one of the most illustrious of Austria-Hungary.
Arms of the Kinsky family at Kinsky Palace in Old Town Square, Prague
Kinsky Palace, Prague
Palais Kinsky, Vienna
Karlova Koruna Chateau, Bohemia
Czech nobility consists of the noble families from historical Czech lands, especially in their narrow sense, i.e. nobility of Bohemia proper, Moravia and Austrian Silesia – whether these families originated from those countries or moved into them through the centuries. These are connected with the history of Great Moravia, Duchy of Bohemia, later Kingdom of Bohemia, Margraviate of Moravia, the Duchies of Silesia and the Crown of Bohemia, the constitutional predecessor state of the modern-day Czech Republic.
Defenestration of Prague, 1618
A snapshot showing members of the Czech nobility during a horse race in Prague, 1900
Prince Karel VII. Schwarzenberg and Czech President Václav Havel in 2008
Saint Adalbert (c. 956–997), the second bishop of Prague and later a missionary among the Prussians is for his life and deeds honoured as a patron saint of three countries
