Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iv
Reference 763
UNESCO region Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 1996 (20th Session)

The Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape (also Lednice-Valtice Area or Lednice-Valtice Complex, Czech: Lednicko-valtický areál) is a cultural-natural landscape complex of 283.09 square kilometres (109.30 sq mi) in the Lednice and Valtice areas of the South Moravian Region, near Břeclav in the Czech Republic.

The Lednice-Valtice Area is registered in the list of monuments protected as World Heritage Sites (WHS) by UNESCO. It is adjacent to the Pálava Landscape Protected Area (Pálava Biosphere Reserve), a WHS registered by UNESCO several years before. The close proximity of two cultural landscapes protected by UNESCO is unique.

History

The House of Liechtenstein acquired a castle in Lednice in 1249, which marked the beginning of their settlement in the area. It remained the principal Liechtenstein residence for 700 years, until 1939 and World War II.

17th—19th centuries

The Dukes of Liechtenstein transformed their properties into one large and designed private park between the 17th and 20th centuries. During the 19th century, the Dukes continued transforming the area as a large traditional English landscape park. The Baroque and Gothic Revival style architecture of their chateaux are married with smaller buildings and a landscape that was fashioned according to the English principles of landscape architecture.

In 1715 these two chateaux (castles) were connected by a landscape alée and road, later renamed for the poet Petr Bezruč. The Lednice Ponds (Lednické rybníky) are situated between the villages of Valtice, Lednice, and Hlohovec; as are the Mlýnský, Prostřední, Hlohovecký, and Nesyt Ponds. A substantial part of the cultural landscape complex is covered in pine forests, known as the "Pine−wood"(Boří les), and in areas adjacent to the River Dyje with riparian forests.

20th century

In the 20th century the region became part of new Czechoslovakia The Liechtenstein family opposed the annexation of Czech territory in the fascist Sudetenland by Nazi Germany, and as a consequence their properties were confiscated by the Nazis, and the family then relocated to Vaduz in 1939. After World War II the family made several legal attempts for restitution of the properties. However, they had passed post-war into ownership by the new Soviet Czechoslovakia. Of course its Communist government did not support returning large estates to exiled aristocratic landowners.

After the Czechoslovakian Velvet Revolution in 1992, the Liechtenstein descendants again renewed legal attempts for restitution, which were denied by the Czech state, the present day owner of the properties. [1]

Features

The principal elements are:

Pavilions and follies

In addition to the castles, there are a many large to small residential pavilions located throughout the designed landscape, often serving as chateau or hunting lodges.[2]

The Colonnade in Valtice

Preservation

The garden follies and the conservatory of Lednice Park were listed in the 1998 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund, for their deteriorating condition resulting from insufficient financial resources.[3] The Fund had previously studied the preservation of Lednice and Valtice Castles, and after 1998 it helped fund restoration of the Valtice Rendezvous folly as a demonstration project with support from American Express.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The former Liechtenstein possessions of Lednice-Valtice". Minor Sights. September 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  2. ↑ The term zámeček (German: Schlösschen, literally a small château) — is usually translated here as a "manor house" — or a "hunting lodge" (Czech: lovecký zámeček, German: Jagdschlösschen), if it served for hunting.
  3. ↑ World Monuments Fund – Lednice and Valtice Cultural Landscape
  4. ↑ Elaine Louie, New York Times, "Saving Endangered Art and Architecture," June 25, 1998.

Sources

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Coordinates: 48°46′32.988″N 16°46′30″E / 48.77583000°N 16.77500°E / 48.77583000; 16.77500

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