The National Stud at Kladruby nad Labem is situated in the very heart of the Landscape Conservation Zone of Kladrubské Polabí - a region with specific traits that have been making it home to Kladruber horses for half a millennium. The unique landscape scenery is the result of fields, meadows, grazing land, forests and park landscape features arranged in a thoughtful and elaborate manner. Elements typical of the territory include the River Elbe that has added corners full of charming beauty and harmony to the landscape.
The countryside surrounding the National Stud is a combination of two categories of cultural landscapes - one that is lively and evolves organically with a prevailing identification of the function, and one composed by man with intention and representing the exceptionally sophisticated type of a specialised ornamental estate - ferme ornée - aimed at keeping ceremonial coach horses.
The landscape dedicated to breeding and training coach horses incorporates elements of landscape composition such as centrelines, roads, tree-lined avenues, lines of trees, watercourses and symmetrical structures which respect the principles of French parks. The respect and regard for the local countryside are also visible in a combination of moderate Classicism architecture with the landscape - a style with a configuration that does not disrupt the landscape; rather, it complements it, leaving its beauty in the foreground as it changes season after season.
The elements of English landscaping style are also no less considerable; they were applied when developing the landscape park of Mošnice in which the landscaping scenery was inspired by the principles of painter’s perspective working with the diversity of colours of the broad range of woody plants to produce spatial illusions and effects; the scenery is reflected on the surface of the lakes that formed from the cut-off meandres of the River Elbe.
The uniqueness and the complexity of how the landscape combines with architecture and how the Kladruber has co-existed with humans constitutes a world phenomenon that is necessary to protect, develop and present. This has resulted in the appropriate attention paid to the landscape with the special scenery by the government in terms of protection and care. In 1995, the National Stud was declared a cultural monument; in 2002, it was declared a national cultural monument. In 2007, the stud and the cultural landscape were registered on the tentative list of the Czech Republic for enlisting as a UNESCO site.
In January 2018, the Czech Republic submitted a formal nominating dossier entitled Landscape for Breeding and Training Ceremonial Coach Horses in Kladruby nad Labem for the purpose of entering the area into the UNESCO’s List of World Cultural Heritage with a view to preserving the outstanding value of the landscape for future generations and maintaining the tradition of Kladruber management in the region of Kladrubské Polabí.
