VALDŠTEJNOVÉ - Závisti navzdory – Juřík Pavel (2024)

The Wallenstein family has given the Czech lands a long line of significant politicians, military leaders, diplomats, church dignitaries, and patrons. Thus, Czech history is also the history of this family. Undoubtedly, the most significant figure of the family is Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583–1634), the Duke of Friedland and an extraordinarily successful military leader of the Thirty Years' War, who became a figure of pan-European importance. His downfall and assassination in Cheb in 1634 did not affect his relatives, and the Wallensteins continued to be important members of the regional or imperial government. Among the many notable Wallenstein figures, we should mention the highest burgrave Adam the Younger of Wallenstein (1570-1638), the Archbishop of Prague Jan Bedřich (1642–1694), Count Karl Ferdinand (1634–1702), an imperial courtier and diplomat, or the Bishop of Litoměřice Emanuel Arnošt (1716-1789). In 1869, the Plzeň engineering works of Count Kristián Vincenc von Wallenstein were purchased by Ing. Emil Škoda, who built one of the most significant industrial conglomerates in Europe.