Valtice Castle

Valtice is baroque castle in town Valtice in discrict Breclav, Czech republic. Since 1955 the castle is protected as National Historic Landmark. Since 1996 Valtice is also on the World Heritage List UNESCO. Parts of the castle are gallery, riding-school, theatre and carriage house.

And now someting about the history. This castle was built in 13th century as a gothic castle. It was rebuild to renaissance style and then to the baroque style. The appearance of today’s castle is from 18th century (from 1643 to 1730). The builders were Domenik Martinelli and Johann Bernhard Fischer from Erlach. The castle was part of Lower Austria to the end of The First World War. Then it was part of the Czechoslovakia thanks to the peace treaty signed in Saint-Germain en Layne near to Paris in the 10th of September 1919.

The first mention about Valtice is from the 10th of January 1193 when caesar Jindrich the VI. made an exchange with Wichard from Seefeld. In the end of The Second World War, the castle was ruined by Russian prisoners. In the middle of 1947 the forced labor camp for women in the east wing was established . They worked in farmhouse and in vine cellar. During communism, the whole building got devastaded and used like a workplace and factory. The depot was at the main part of the building, in riding-school was tobacco dryer. In 1964 the theatre was destroyed and instead of it was built as a parkplace for tractors.

Rebuilding of the castle has started in 70´s and it continues to this day.  Some of the objects like riding-school and the theatre was fixed 5 years ago. The original theatre was built by Karel Jan Rudzinsky. Ceremonial opening was in 1790. It got almost destroyed in 40´s and 50´s. First performance in the new theatre was played on the 12th and 13th of September 2015. The theatre also became Czech National Center for Theater and Dance.

Part of the castle is also a garden, which was established in 1727. The area is 14,6 ha large. There are 22 kinds of conifers and 63 kind of deciduous trees. There are also some exhibitions. You can choose from 14 visitations. For example there are two basic tours inside of the castle. There you can see rooms where the family of Liechtenstein lived. The first tour costs 200 crowns for 55 minutes. And in the second one the ticket costs 120 crown for 35 minutes. In the summer 2021 you can see there an exponation of costumes from movie Marie Terezie III. The price is 75 crowns for 45 minutes. Also there is herb garden near the castle, where you can relax and see many kinds of flowers. You will pay 60 crowns for 1 hour.

For more information about South Bohemian region, from which this castle comes, click here and here.