A researcher in the field of the natural sciences, a proponent of enlightenment, Princess Maria Christina von Dietrichstein (1738–1788) put together an extensive collection of natural products, which was stored at Mikulov Chateau until 1945. Part of this collection has been rediscovered and forms part of the Desire and Dignity exhibition at the Regional Museum in Mikulov.

During the time Princess Maria Christina von Dietrichstein spent living at Mikulov Chateau her attention was focused not only on managing the estate, but also on a wide range of activities relating to the natural sciences. One of her principal achievements – rather unusual for a woman at that time – was creating and building a collection of natural products, consisting of minerals, fossils, shells, corals and insects. Princess von Dietrichstein collected these objects herself, bought them or received them as gifts. The most noteworthy is her collection of minerals, part of which has been preserved to this day. It is highly likely that the leading mineralogist and montanologist Ignaz von Born Brno was involved in classifying this collection; her classifications were based on the system used by Born when he organised the minerals in the Court Mineralogical Cabinet in Vienna. In 1787 Maria Christina von Dietrichstein even compiled a catalogue of this collection, entitled Catalog des Naturalien Cabinets (Catalogue of the Cabinet of the Products of Nature). The collection contained 2 156 specimens, 1 216 of which have been preserved; some of them can now be seen in the exhibition at Mikulov Chateau.

Keywords: mineralogy; Cabinet of the Products of Nature, mineral collection, Desire and Dignity exhibition

Maria Christina von Dietrichstein’s mineralogical collection at Mikulov Chateau