The Unconventional Gothic of Konopiste

Konopiste was unlike any Gothic location that we viewed on this trip; it was the hunting lodge of Franz Ferdinand, and from the outside it appeared to be an Italian style structure. In fact, there was little to no Gothic architecture in the building. Instead, the Gothic character was visible through the entry hall decorations. Upon entering the hall I found myself surrounded by hundreds of dead animals; buck antlers of all shapes and sizes jutted out from the walls. In between the antlers were smaller mounts of birds, foxes and various small creatures. The hallway was overwhelming and unlike anything I have ever seen before. We didn't have the opportunity to tour all of Franz's lodge or to see his hunting rooms, but I can only imagine that they looked similar to the main hallway. We were told on our tour that Franz Ferdinand killed nearly 300,00 animals over the course of his lifetime; I'm not sure what this says about his personality, but I find myself thinking back on a story I read several years ago, called "The Most Dangerous Game". To be clear, I am not saying that Franz Ferdinand was hunting humans, but I was reminded of this story because the main character had hunted every creature he could imagine and wanted more of a challenge. I couldn't help but be reminded of that story as I toured the lodge.