Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer, settled in Bohemia in 1599 after falling out of favour with the newly crowned King of Denmark, Christian IV. Taken under the wing of Emperor Rudolph II, he initially set up his observatory at Benatky Castle, where he met his disciple, Johannes Kepler. He quickly moved back to the capital, where he died during his work on the Rudolphine Tables.

 

   



The Czech composer and virtuoso pianist Bedrich Smetana founded a music school in Prague in 1849 before going into exile in Sweden a few years later. Upon his return to Bohemia in 1862, he conducted the orchestra at the provisional theatre. He can be attributed with piano music, two quartets, several symphonic poems (including the cycle Mà Vlast, 1874-1879, which comprises the famous Vlatva, or Moldau), choruses, melodies and eight operas (including the Bartered Bride in 1866).
Affected by a total loss of hearing and prone to depression, he spent his final years in an asylum.

It was between 1844 and 1847 that the young composer was a regular visitor to Benatky Castle in order to teach music to the Thun-Hohenstein family, the owners at that particular time.