Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ALBRECHT VON WALDSTEIN
AlbrechtvonWaldstein (knowntotheCzechsasAlbrechtzValdštejna,andtotheEnglish
as Wallenstein - the name given to him by the German playwright Schiller in his tragic
trilogy) was the most notorious warlord of the Thirty Years' War. If the imperial astrologer
Johannes Kepler is to be believed, this is all because he was born at 4pm on September
14,1583.AccordingtoKepler'shoroscope,Waldsteinwasdestinedtobegreedy,deceitful,
unloved and unloving. Sure enough, at an early age he tried to kill a servant, for which he
was expelled from his Lutheran school. Recuperating in Italy, he converted to Catholicism
(an astute career move) and married a wealthy widow who conveniently died shortly after
the marriage. Waldstein used his new fortune to cultivate a friendship with Prince Ferdin-
and, heir to the Habsburg Empire, who in turn thought that a rich, tame Bohemian noble
could come in handy.
During the Thirty Years' War, Waldstein offered his services (and an army of thousands)
to Emperor Ferdinand free of charge, but with the right to plunder as he saw fit - within
five years of the Battle of Bílá hora in 1620, Waldstein owned a quarter of Bohemia. By
1630, he was a duke, and earned the right to keep his hat on in the imperial presence as
well as the more dubious honour of handing the emperor a napkin after he had used his
fingerbowl. However, at this point Ferdinand grew wary of Waldstein's ambition, and re-
lieved him of his command.
The following year, the Saxons occupied Prague, and the emperor was forced to reinstate
Waldstein. Ferdinand couldn't afford to do without the supplies from Waldstein's estates,
but knew he was mortgaging large chunks of the empire to pay for his services. More
alarmingly, there were persistent rumours that Waldstein was about to declare himself king
of Bohemia and defect to the French enemy. In 1634, Waldstein openly rebelled against
Ferdinand, who immediately hatched a plot to murder him, sending a motley posse includ-
ing English, Irish and Scottish mercenaries to the border town of Cheb ( Eger ), where they
cut the general down in his nightshirt as he tried to rise from his sickbed. Some see him as
thefirstmantounifyGermanysinceCharlemagne,othersseehimasawilyCzechhero.In
reality he was probably just another ambitious, violent man, as his stars had predicted.
Valdštejnská zahrada (Wallenstein Garden)
Letenská April-Oct Mon-Fri 7.30am-6pm, Sat & Sun from 10am • Free • Metro Malostranská
The Valdštejnský palác's formal gardens, the Valdštejnská zahrada (accessible from the
palace'smainentrance,fromthepiazzaoutsideMalostranskámetroandalsofromadoorway
in the palace walls along Letenská), are a good place to take a breather from the city streets.
The focus of the gardens is the gigantic Italianate sala terrena , a monumental loggia decor-
ated with frescoes of the Trojan Wars, which stands at the end of an avenue of bronze sculp-
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