Kynžvart Chateau is located in Western Bohemia and its library ranks among the most significant aristocratic libraries throughout the Czech Republic. Among its 160 manuscripts there is a unique fragment of the Pentateuch dating back to the turn of the 9th century. 230 incunabula in 145 volumes represent the largest collection of this kind in the country.This library originated thanks to Lothar of Metternich (1551–1623), the Archbishop and Elector of Trier. He bequeathed his books to his five nephews who gained the Kynžvart domain in 1623. Unfortunately, most books irrevocably disappeared during the 1794 war events in Coblenz.
Remnants of the family library were, however, considerably enriched with about 4,000 extremely precious manuscripts and prints from the dissolved Benedictine monastery at Ochsenhausen (Swabia). After having been brought from Vienna at the behest of Prince Klemens of Metternich, sometime after 1818, the library was installed in the new wing of the remodelled Kynžvart Castle after 1835.
A 12th-century set of 17 manuscripts also includes two precious leaves written in St. Bernard of Clairvaux' own hand. A 13th-century illuminated book of psalms ranks among the most magnificent items of this library. The lavishly illuminated two-volume manuscript "Histoire de France" also dates back to the 14th century. Furthermore, frequently cited are the 1525 "Chronicle of Magdeburg" and a manuscript by the Spanish writer and playwright Felix Lope de Vega Carpio.
