Lovecký zámek Ohrada

Lovecký zámek Ohrada in Hluboká nad Vltavou, Czechia, is a Baroque hunting castle erected by the Schwarzenberg princely house between 1708 and 1713. Commissioned to serve the princely court, the building was created to stage parforce hunts and to host the social festivities that accompanied large-scale hunting on the Schwarzenberg estate, placing it within the ritual and recreational landscape of early 18th‑century Bohemian nobility.

Construction proceeded in distinct stages across the early 1700s. An arsenal was put up on the western side of the site first, followed by the addition of south and north wings intended for stables and kennels. The sequence concluded with the principal block, which contained a large Hunting Hall and a first‑floor chapel. The chapel was devoted to Saint Eustace, patron of hunters, and its ceiling showing the Holy Trinity was painted in 1715; an altar dedicated to Saint Hubert received its decorative program by 1720 and included an altar image from a Flemish painter. Interior decorative schemes included hunting and mythological scenes and elaborate stucco work installed during this early phase.

In 1842 Prince Johann Adolf II zu Schwarzenberg created a purpose-built museum within the castle, assembling hunting trophies, weapons and mounted animals into what became the first hunting museum there. During the 20th century the building accommodated forest administration offices and served as military hospitals. At the outset of the First World War German military authorities occupied the site. Following the end of that conflict the castle was transferred into state hands under the Czechoslovak government.

From 1961 the Prague Agricultural Museum took responsibility for the site and reoriented its displays toward forestry and fishing. A major program of repair and renewal was carried out between 1986 and 1990. In 2001 the castle received legal protection as a national cultural monument of the Czech Republic. The complex today houses the Museum of Forestry, Hunting and Fishing, an institution whose origins make it among the earliest museums in the Czech lands; several of the large oil paintings that once decorated the Hunting Hall are now held in Austria.