Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem

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The Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem: A Unique Cultural Landscape

The Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem, located in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic, is a remarkable example of a cultural landscape that seamlessly blends functionality and artistry. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, this unique landscape has been dedicated to the breeding and training of the Kladruber horse breed since the establishment of the Imperial Stud Farm in 1579.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

The property is situated on the Elbe (Labe) River flood plain where there is sandy soil, ox bow lakes and the relic of a riparian forest. The structure and functional use of plots of land (pastures, meadows, forests, fields, park), network of paths, avenues, trees in regimented lines and arranged clusters as well as the solitary trees, the network of watercourses, ensembles of buildings in the farmsteads and the overall composition including functional relations and links between these components - all this fully serves the needs of breeding and training of the Baroque draught horses of the Kladruber breed which were used during the ceremonies at the Habsburg Imperial Court. The composition of the landscape is the evidence of the intentional artistic approach to the landscape. The property is a rare example of the synthesis of two types of cultural landscape - living and organically developing landscape where its key function dominates and the manmade landscape intentionally designed and created using the principles of the French and English landscape architecture which is an outstanding example of the specialised decorative farm - ferme ornée. The Imperial Stud Farm was founded in 1579 and its landscape has been used for this purpose since then.

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criterion (iv): The Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem is an exceptional example of a landscape which has been consistently and intentionally modified through the centuries, utilizing the principles of Classicist and Romantic Landscaping, to create a suitable environment for the purpose of horse-breeding and training of draft ceremonial horses, exceptionally reflecting the development of the Habsburgs and their representational needs at a time when absolute monarchies were in the ascendance. The property also represents a complete example tangibly reflecting the development of a specific equestrian culture in Europe spanning over four centuries, focused on breeding and training of ceremonial carriage horses.

Criterion (v): The Landscape at Kladruby nad Labem exceptionally reflects the use and purposeful adaptation of the geomorphological, pedological and hydrological features and environmental resources of a fluvial area throughout the centuries for horse–breeding and training. The current organisation of the landscape, with its still-evident tripartite structure, with old meanders and oxbow lakes turned into a designed landscape, the fenced and tree-delimited pastures, the avenues, the network of irrigation canals, the stud architecture and the dependent villages, along with the local knowledge and way of life dependent on stud operation and horse-breeding, represents an outstanding example of human interaction with the environment devoted to the breeding and training of the Kladruber horses.

Encyclopedia Record: Kladruby nad Labem

Kladruby nad Labem is a municipality and village in Pardubice District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. It is known as the home of the Kladruber horse breed. The village with the surrounding landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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