Before us stands the Czernin family tomb a testament to a lineage intertwined with Vinohrady’s history. This Classical-style structure wasn’t always here. The Vinohrady branch of the Czernin family acquired their small estate in 1650. Hermann Czernin of Chudenice purchased it from Karl Ferdinand of Waldstein. It wasn’t until 1797 that the estate passed to the Vinohrady line. The cemetery itself opened in 1805. The tomb’s construction took place sometime between 1805 and 1841. Precise records are sadly lost to time. We only know that Wolfgang Maria Czernin owned the estate when it began and his son Otakar Evžen Czernin inherited it upon his death in 1813.
The Czernin family tomb is a free-standing structure. A central section is accented by side wings. Red bricks form its core. However all the architectural details are made of stone. The roof is covered in metal sheeting. The facade facing southeast features a central projection. This is topped by a triangular gable. A stone cross stands atop the gable on a pedestal. The entrance has a decorative element above the lintel which also serves as an architrave. Flanking the entrance are pilasters with stylized capitals. These are adorned with floral elements. Above the entrance is the Czernin family coat of arms.
Horizontal architectural elements structure the facade. There is a stone socle a main cornice and a smaller crown cornice that frames both the side gables and the triangular gable. The double metal doors are divided by panels and embellished with decorative nail heads. The simpler side facades are also structured by a socle main cornice and cornice of the attic. A lunette window with rusticated frame is on the back facade. A marble plaque with a now partially illegible inscription is on the back wall. It is dedicated to the founder of the tomb Wolfgang Maria Czernin of Chudenice.
Inside the tomb’s rectangular interior is a groin vault resting on pilasters. The lunette opposite the entrance is a window. The others are sealed. The profiled main cornice frames the whole interior. It’s made of marble. Marble also lines the lower part of the tomb. Thirty-six coffin recesses are arranged in three rows of twelve. Each is separated by marble partitions and marked with inscribed plaques. One plaque for Antonie Countess of Fünfkirchen who died in 1874 bears the inscription OTTO SANDTNER PRAHA. The marble floor echoes the pattern on the walls. Blue-gray marble frames the recesses. The center is filled with rose-colored marble.
The tomb’s Empire-style furnishings are mostly made of dark lacquered wood. The altar stands on a wooden step. The altar’s bowl-shaped top rests on curved legs shaped like lion paws. The cross is dark lacquered wood. The corpus is gilded. The crucifix stands on a pedestal. A cherub relief is in a stylized laurel wreath. Three small plaques are affixed to the altar’s front added after 1813. A pair of wooden candle holders for mourning candles are on the sides of the bowl. Sixteen members of the Czernin family or their relatives are buried here. However Ottokar Czernin Austrian Foreign Minister during World War I is not buried here. After the war he stayed in Austria. He is buried in Bad Aussee Austria along with his wife Marie nee Kinska.
The Czernin family tomb is more than just a burial place. It’s a monument to history family and the lasting presence of the Czernin family in Vinohrady.