The life of Count Eugen Karel Czernin (1796–1868) was focused around a deep interest in history, archaeology and art, as well as the natural sciences, particularly botany and mineralogy. In these areas he left a mark that can still be seen today, in the form of the arboretum of North American tree species and his extensive collection of minerals.

The involvement of Count Eugen Karel Czernin (Eugen Karl Czernin von und zu Chudenitz in German) in the field of the natural sciences in the Czech lands was particularly associated with his estate in Chudenice. This was where, in 1842, he had an arboretum established called the American Garden, which even now still contains an extensive collection of North American tree species (the arboretum also contains Asian and European species). Czernin’s interest in botany also led to him becoming the co-founder of the Dendrological Society in Průhonice.

Eugen Karel Czernin’s interest in the natural sciences was certainly influenced by the scientific enthusiasm of the palaeobotanist and the founder of the Patriotic (later National) Museum, Kaspar von Sternberg, whom he used to meet in Prague, Vienna and Chudenice. During his stays in Prague Count Czernin regularly visited the Patriotic Museum and also often engaged in stimulating professional discussions with the curator of the mineralogical collection, the geologist and mineralogist Franz Xaver Maximilian Zippe. Czernin also donated several rare specimens from his collection to the Patriotic Museum. Eugen Karel Czernin’s vast mineralogical was later merged with the collection of his grandson Rudolf Czernin-Morzin, and contained around 4 600 specimens. It has been administered by the University of Technology in Prague since 1935.

Connected places: Eugen Karl Czernin’s American Garden at Lázeň chateau in Chudenice
Kaspar Sternberg
Americká zahrada Evžena Karla Černína v Chudenicích; Kašpar Šternberk; Franz Xaver Maximilian Zippe

Keywords: botany; mineralogy; American Garden; arboretum; mineralogical collection

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Šantrůčková, M.: Krajinářská tvorba Jana Rudolfa Černína. Vznik a vývoj parků v Krásném Dvoře, Jemčině, Petrohradě a Chudenicích. Praha 2014, s. 176–208.