Prague and Konopiste

I was in Prague for a few days working on a political story.

While I was there, a great-grand daughter of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este, filed a lawsuit asking for the return of Konopiste castle, the family's home before it was seized by the new Republic of Czechoslovakia after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the wake of World War I.

I'm interested in Ferdinand, having seen where he was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914, so I went to see the castle.

The Czech institute that administers the country's historic properties arranged for a guide and a car to take me there. We arrived in the evening and were given a tour by a woman who has lived at the castle for sixteen years.

The castle is a museum now, filled with the archduke's collections and personal belongings.

It is a beautiful place. This is a painting of his wife, Sophie, who was killed with him. For anyone who has forgotten, the assassinations led to World War I.

Outside the couple's bedroom is a small glass case that holds some items related to the assassination. Above are the archduke's bloodstained suspenders.

This is the bullet that killed his wife.

The case even contained the plaster death masks taken of the couple in Sarajevo.

Sophie's hat was also there.

You can see the hat in this picture of the couple not long before they were shot.