Kolowrat-Krakowsky

Kolowrat-Krakowsky (Czech: Kolowrat-Krakowští) is a Czech noble family. It is a branch of the Kolowrat family.

As with all noble families, the Kolowrat family has its own legend. The legend by Bohuslav Balbín tells the story of a strong man who saved a Czech king and his little son when he grabbed the fellies of their cart, stopping their runaway horses. The family name Kolowrat is a combination of the world "kolo" (wheel) and "vrátit" (turning/spinning). In tribute to the above-mentioned legend, the Kolowrat coat of arms shows a wheel with eight fellies.

The first historically-based references to the Kolowrat family originate in the 13th century. The surviving written sources connect the Kolowrat family with an eagle coat of arms. The first recorded eagle comes from 1205 and it is displayed on the coat of arms of a certain Mladota of Kolovraty, who was connected with the village of Kolovraty (near Uhříněves). However, the true founder of the family, and the first historically-based nobleman of Kolowraty, was Albrecht of Kolowraty (1320-1391), whose ancestors came from the above-mentioned village of Kolovraty. The Captain and Marshal of Queen Anna Svídnická (wife of Karel IV), observer of the Provincial and Feudal Court, was first written about in 1347 as a witness to the sale of the town of Rožmitál. He fathered eight children with three different wives. Six of his children were sons, who laid the foundations of one of the most branched Czech families. In 1373 Albrecht of Kolowraty founded the Augustinian monastery of the Assumption of Virgin Mary in Ročov, where he was buried after his death. According to an ancient legend, if the monastery’s founder’s gravestone moistens or 'cries', it forebodes misfortune for the family.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Kolowrat family split into eight family branches:

The noblemen of Kolowraty have played an important role in Czech history. They have always held important posts such as Burgraves, Captains, Supreme Judges of Provincial Courts, church dignitaries as well as Royal Governors and High Chancellors. In the 17th century the noblemen of Kolowraty received the title Count.

One of the most significant people among the noblemen of Kolowraty was undoubtedly Count František Antonín Kolovrat-Libstejnsky (1778–1861), an educated and generous man who supported the Habsburg family. At the age of 24 he became Prague City Commissioner (the Police Director) and later Supreme Burgrave (1811–1826). In 1826 he was called to Vienna to serve as the Minister of State for the Interior. He was a good economist and in 1830 he succeeded in putting the public finances in order. As a supporter of the Czech National Revival, a moderate liberal and critic of Prince Metternich, in 1848 he became the Prime Minister of the Austrian Monarchy, but only for a short time. He also managed to establish a short-lived constitutional monarchy. After the abdication of Ferdinand I., Franz Joseph ascended the throne and established a new neo-absolutist system, leading Count Kolovrat to leave politics in 1848. In 1818 he played an important role in the foundation of the Patriotic (National) Museum, to which he donated his mineralogical collection as well as his library amounting to 35 thousand volumes.

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Wikipedia