Nostitz Palace

Nostitz Palace is a Baroque residence in Prague's Malá Strana, right next to Kampa Island, that belonged to the Nostitz family for nearly three centuries and today serves as the seat of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. The building carries a double legacy — an aristocratic art and book collection on one hand, a modern government office on the other — which makes it one of the few Prague palaces that never lost its representative character.

Who built the palace and when?

Construction began in 1658 at the initiative of Count Jan Hartvik Nostitz-Rieneck, supreme chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, and the main works ran through roughly 1660, though the wider complex kept expanding for decades. The design is usually attributed to architect Carlo Lurago, though some sources point instead to Francesco Caratti — there is no single settled answer, which is common for Baroque projects of that scale, since several Italian builders often worked on the same grand residence.

Where did the famous Nostitz library come from?

Count Jan Hartvik inherited a sizeable book collection, roughly five thousand volumes, from his late brother Otto of Nostitz, who had held an important administrative post in Lower Silesia. That inherited collection became the seed of a library the family kept expanding over generations. Today the Nostitz Library is considered the oldest surviving palace library in Prague, holding well over ten thousand historical volumes.

What was added to the facade in the 18th century?

In the first half of the 18th century, sculptures of emperors by the sculptor Michael Johann Josef Brokoff were placed above the palace's main cornice, along with decorative dormer windows that gave the building a more monumental profile. In 1736 the Nostitz family founded a picture gallery inside the palace, assembling works by Old Masters — a collection that, alongside the library, turned the residence into a recognised center of collecting in Prague rather than just a private family seat.

How did the palace pass from the family to the state?

The Nostitz family held the palace without interruption until 1945. After the Second World War, under President Edvard Beneš's decrees confiscating the property of people classified as Reich Germans, the building passed into state ownership. Earlier, from 1918, part of the premises had been leased to the Dutch Embassy, which remained there until 1998 — long after the palace itself had formally changed hands.

What is inside Nostitz Palace today?

Since the postwar period the palace has served as the seat of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, and as a working government building it is not open to casual visitors on a daily basis. Its historic interiors survive nonetheless, including a stately billiard hall and the Chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and the palace is occasionally opened to the public during open-house days and national heritage days.

What is worth knowing when walking past the palace?

Nostitz Palace stands right next to Kampa Island and Charles Bridge, surrounded by other Baroque residences typical of Malá Strana, so it is easy to come across during an ordinary walk through this part of Prague. Even from the outside, the scale and formality of the building are unmistakable — a massive facade topped with imperial statues and distinctive dormers that have marked this stretch of the riverbank for over three hundred years.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Nostitz Palace located? The palace stands in Prague's Malá Strana district, right beside Kampa Island, close to Charles Bridge.

Who built the palace and when? Count Jan Hartvik Nostitz-Rieneck began construction in 1658; the design is usually credited to architect Carlo Lurago, and the main building works were completed around 1660.

Can visitors go inside? The building now houses the Ministry of Culture and is not generally open to the public, though it is sometimes accessible during open-house days and national heritage days.

What is the most valuable part of the palace? The historic Nostitz Library, holding well over ten thousand volumes and regarded as the oldest surviving palace library in Prague, alongside the picture gallery the family founded there in 1736.