John Adolf II, Prince of Schwarzenberg (1799 to 1888), was the eldest son of John of Schwarzenberg (1769 to 1883) and Pauline born of Arenberg (1774 to 1810) who was burnt to death in a misadventure in Paris. He had eight siblings. Of these, Felix (1800 to 1852) became a prime minister and Frederick (1809 to 1885) a cardinal and archbishop of Prague. His name as well as his activity was reminiscent of the first Schwarzenberg to settle down in Bohemia, namely John Adolf I (1615-1683). Like him, John Adolf II was an excellent manager; he was devoted to the arts and to the restoration of monuments. During his frequent visits to England (the first one traces back to 1825), he carefully observed the local economic and industrial developments and when he returned home he tried to put all his knowledge into practice in his dominions. His long life bridged a roaring period of history. He saw the end of the Holy Roman Empire and the abolition of servitude and he carried over his dominions, later called country estates, into the new condition smoothly and without any shocks.
His highly versatile education was a big advantage. His independent management began on the Mšec farmstead in 1829. František Horský, a well-known progressive manager, later worked there as a young assistant. At that time, John Adolf II decided to attend first and foremost to the management of the family property and he declined to enter the civil service. Thus he freed his hands for his own business and unlike a number of his predecessors did not have to expend his powers for the House of Habsburg. Withal, his brother Felix was doing this job for him successfully. During his life, John Adolf II accepted only a few rather honest tasks compliments of the imperial court. In 1838, for instance, he represented the feeble-minded Austrian Emperor Ferdinand at the coronation of the English Queen Victoria in London. Still, he received a wide range of acknowledgements and considerable reverence. He was crowned with the Order of the Golden Fleece not later than 1836 and three years later he received the rank of Privy Councillor. In 1854, he was given the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen. Nevertheless, he eventually entered politics. He was not interested in courtly offices, but he did not refuse public positions. In 1860, he was elected a member of the extended imperial council and in 1861 he sat in the Austrian provincial parliament as a hereditary member. He also participated in the work of the Czech provincial assembly, where he sat between 1861 and 1867.
However, he was engaged more in work with his family property than anything else. His land wealth was enormous. He held vast forests, fields, meadows, and ponds, not only in Bohemia but also in Austria and Germany. His power base, however, was in Bohemia, where he possessed 178,180 hectares, which comprised 59 % forests, 33 % farmland, and 5 % ponds. From the beginning of his administration, John Adolf II realised that if he wanted to introduce the modern methods of management that he had seen in England, he would have to rely primarily on educated high-quality assistants. He therefore systematically sought out gifted children in his dominions and provided them with basic and professional education. He established his own management institute in Český Krumlov (1801 to 1850), where future high officials won their spurs. He also paid attention to the education of the agrarian staff. These men got their education at the farming school he founded in Rabín in the Netolicko region. Even senior officials and economic professionals did not stint on their study hours. For that purpose, they could use libraries of professional literature in Postoloprty and Třeboň. It was also quite common for a high Schwarzenberg official to be a member of the Patriotic-Economic Society in Bohemia, of which Prince John Adolf II was a long-time chairman. Here, they gained new experience while at the same time the knowledge gained from the Schwarzenbergs' undertakings was transferred to other areas of Bohemia. Such a professional administration system became especially beneficial after 1848.
In agriculture, the main emphasis was put on growing fodder and producing dung. The obsolete tripartite farming was replaced by diversified farming. The prince established the growing of oilseed rape already in 1851 and cultured grasses and horse beans in 1845. Sugar beets were grown in many places beginning in 1851. Fields in the Třeboň region were commonly improved and all the land was fertilised according to professional expertise. As a result the country estates began to flourish and greater numbers of thoroughbred cattle, horses, and pigs could be raised. New technology was used to a greater extent to work the fields and it was no wonder that the Schwarzenbergs' management gradually became the example for the surrounding lands and countries. A special case comprised the domains of forestry and fishery. Fish farming was expanded and promoted mainly when Joseph Šusta, a world authority, was the head of the Třeboň country estate. In fishpond management, he shortened the migratory time and introduced new species of fish, artificial breeding and artificial feeding so that the growth of the fish was less dependent on the environment and the tributaries to the pond.
Of all his possessions, Prince John Adolf was certainly most proud of his forests and his professional staff. The management followed long-term plans with decennary revision and the forests were cultivated and nursed. Nobody could even think of heedless exploitation. The order that prevailed was also famous. This effort paid off, for the prince gained big profits mainly from the sale of timber. That is why numerous water- and steam-powered lumber-mills were established as well as a resonant wood factory. Even the industrial production closely associated with agriculture and forestry was not overlooked. New breweries, distilleries, sugar-mills, lumber-mills, lime works, brick works, and kaolin works were built, and graphite mines were opened in Černá in the Šumava region.
Despite all his labours, John Adolf II did not forget the legacy of his ancestors and he also sought to keep up the traditions of South Bohemia and its inhabitants. This effort was reflected, for instance, in the establishment of a forest and hunting museum at Ohrada that also included prehistoric collections. Nor did the history of his own family escape his interest; it was well attended to by his archivists, encouraged in their historic work by the frequent visits of František Palacký to the Třeboň archives. John Adolf II spent a lot of money on the maintenance and restoration of numerous manor houses as well as patronage churches, chapels, and last but not least, granges, yards, and forest or pond constructions. In this respect, his most imposing work was the complete reconstruction of the originally baroque Hluboká manor house in the form in which we know it today.
In 1830, John Adolf II married a beautiful princess, Eleanor of Liechtenstein (1812 to 1873), with whom he had a son, Joseph (1832 to 1914), and a daughter, Mary Leopoldine (1833 to 1909), who married Count Ernest of Valdstein (1821 to 1904). To sum up the significance of Prince John Adolf II of Schwarzenberg is very difficult as he elated both South Bohemia and North Bohemia with reforms in all his domains and created a thriving economic unit, looked after by his highly professional staff. JUDr. František Rieger evaluated the work of John Adolf II in the Bohemian assembly shortly after his death: "What we can add to the credit of his noble character is that he did not undertake this economic task only for his own interests but as a public service." We can only regret that there were not more personages like him in South Bohemia.