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Founded: 1307Category: Religious sites in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)
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The parish church dedicated to St .George is mentioned for first time in historical sources dating 1229; the earliest church on the site was a Late Romanesque Brick Gothic basilica built without a steeple. In 1289, the basilica was largely destroyed in a fire. Thanks to contributions from the sale of papal indulgences, St. George's church was rebuilt as a Gothic four tiered hall church with three naves; it was consecrated anew in 1307. Around 1400, the hall choir was enlarged and a large hall-style ambulatory was installed. This set of renovations also saw the installation of two-storied, transept-style annexes in the northern and southern parts of the church adorned with ornamental gables. In 1612, the steeple top caught on fire and was replaced by a humble gabled roof.
The church's interior houses many valuable works of art. Amongst the most notable dating to the pre-Reformation epoch are a two-tiered convertable winged alter (ca. 1421), an oak sculpture depicted Jesus as a man of sorrows (1400) and a group of crosses representing Christ's triumph (1480). Valuable images and carvings dating to the Rennaissance include the church's pulpit (1580) and the alderman's bank (1608-23); equally valuable are a baptism font from 1620, with their large brass basins dating to the 15th century and a Friese-3 brand organ (1871). Extensive renovations of the church's interior were carried out in 1844 and 1898; the latter aimed to render visible once more the medieval form of the church's Brick Gothic walls.
References:The first historical record of Lednice locality dates from 1222. At that time there stood a Gothic fort with courtyard, which was lent by Czech King Václav I to Austrian nobleman Sigfried Sirotek in 1249.
At the end of the 13th century the Liechtensteins, originally from Styria, became holders of all of Lednice and of nearby Mikulov. They gradually acquired land on both sides of the Moravian-Austrian border. Members of the family most often found fame in military service, during the Renaissance they expanded their estates through economic activity. From the middle of the 15th century members of the family occupied the highest offices in the land. However, the family’s position in Moravia really changed under the brothers Karel, Maximilian, and Gundakar of Liechtenstein. Through marriage Karel and Maximilian acquired the great wealth of the old Moravian dynasty of the Černohorskýs of Boskovice. At that time the brothers, like their father and grandfather, were Lutheran, but they soon converted to Catholicism, thus preparing the ground for their rise in politics. Particularly Karel, who served at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, became hetman of Moravia in 1608, and was later raised to princely status by King Matyas II and awarded the Duchy of Opava.
During the revolt of the Czech nobility he stood on the side of the Habsburgs, and took part in the Battle of White Mountain. After the uprising was defeated in 1620 he systematically acquired property confiscated from some of the rebels, and the Liechtensteins became the wealthiest family in Moravia, rising in status above the Žerotíns. Their enormous land holdings brought them great profits, and eventually allowed them to carry out their grandious building projects here in Lednice.
In the 16th century it was probably Hartmann II of Liechtenstein who had the old medieval water castle torn down and replaced with a Renaissance chateau. At the end of the 17th century the chateau was torn down and a Baroque palace was built, with an extensive formal garden, and a massive riding hall designed by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach that still stands in almost unaltered form.
In the mid-18th century the chateau was again renovated, and in 1815 its front tracts that had been part of the Baroque chateau were removed.
The chateau as it looks today dates from 1846-1858, when Prince Alois II decided that Vienna was not suitable for entertaining in the summer, and had Lednice rebuilt into a summer palace in the spirit of English Gothic. The hall on the ground floor would serve to entertain the European aristocracy at sumptuous banquets, and was furnished with carved wood ceilings, wooden panelling, and select furniture, surpassing anything of its kind in Europe.