A New Monarch and a New System of Residences : Ferdinand I Habsburg as the Founder of the Network of Main and Occasional Residences in the Habsburg Empire
Abstrakt
Under Ferdinand I, the Czech Lands became a point of intersection for important European cultural influences, particularly Italian, Burgundian-Dutch, Spanish, and German artistic phenomena which became established here, and as we see in the cases of the gardens, the hunting grounds and the closely associated minor constructions, they were developed further within this specific environment. As the first Habsburg on the Czech throne, Ferdinand established a network of residences centred around Prague Castle, where the garden facilities also offered opportunities for recreation and were loosely connected to other entertainment and leisure sites throughout Bohemia.
However, Ferdinand was not able to complete his project. Building work was slowed both by the fire at Prague Castle in 1541, and, more significantly, by the king's inadequate finances and frequent absences.
Until 1564 Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol supervised the construction of the recreational facilities at Prague Castle and its satellite centres (the chamber estates) under the direction of his father, to whose plans he was required to adhere. After Ferdinand I's death in 1564 his successor, Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia, Maximilian II (1527-1576), continued to employ his younger brother, Archduke Ferdinand, as regional governor in Bohemia until 1567.
As of 1576 Ferdinand I's plan was further developed and altered by Emperor Rudolf II, who chose Prague as his primary residence, thus enabling him not only to expand Prague Castle to meet the needs of an imperial court, but also to make full use of its leisure facilities. However, this was only a historical episode, and in the seventeenth century the attention of the Habsburg monarchs shifted definitively to Vienna and the Austrian lands, while Prague and its recreational facilities moved to the periphery of their interests.