Slavkov u Brna - Austerlitz
|
Slavkov u Brna - Austerlitz |
The town of Slavkov entered the European history through the monumental Battle of Three Emperors which took place on December 2, 1805, not far from its fortification walls. This bloody epizode of the Napoleonic history gave rise, at the local chateau, to a special exposition which recalls the major events of the French Revolution and its aftermath.
Although overshadowed by the battle's historical fame, the history of the town itself, dating back to the 13th century, is no less interesting.
The original settlement was built on a crossroad of trade routs which lead from the Mediterranean to the Baltic sea. Markgrave Vladislav Jindrich (around 1160 - 1222) gave this territory to the Order of the German Knights who establishd a large and economically influencial settlement here, roughly at the place of today chateau. The Order owned and controlled this property until 1410 when, after the lost battle against the Polish king, the Order had to pay reparations and was forced to ask for loans. One of their lenders was the Czech sovereign who took advantage of this situation and gradually confiscated all the Order's property. Slavkov was then given in pledge to several noble families and in 1509 became a property of the Kounics. The Kounics had controlled the Slavkov estate until 1919, when the last descendant of the Kounic family, Eugen Kounic, died.
Both economic development of the town and its architectural appearance were closely connected with the Kounics and reflected their status within the Habsburk Monarchy.
In 1416 Slavkov, which arose from several settlements around the original Gothic castle, was granted the rights of a town and given its seal and its coat-of-arms by king Vaclav IV. Foundations were thus laid for further economic and cultural upsurge.
Another important period in the town's history was during the 16th century's reformation, when many were forced to flee their homelands and find an asylum in different parts of Europe. Religious tolerance of the Kounics attracted several sects, the most important of which were "the new christians" who came from Switzerland and settled down at the Slavkov estate. Their craftsmanship contributed a great deal to the town's economic boom of that time. They were excellent bricklayers, smiths, tanners and millers but the most known was their ceramics. New christians community in Slavkov was one of the largest in the Czech lands. Over two hundred of its members alone came from Pusterthal in Tyrolia.
After the Battle at White Mountain the new christians had to leave. They left after them many Renaissance buildings which replaced the older Gothic architecture and gave to Slavkov a new appearance.
Among the oldest Renaissance buildings, preserved to the present day, are the town hall, with a hexagonal tower, entrance portal and the town's coat-of -arms, built in 1592, and numerous houses in the town's square and in its close surrounding.
The Thirty Years War and the period of recatholicization did not leave any important traces on the face of the town, except, maybe, for three sculptures of St. John of Nepomuk which reflect the popularity of this saint among the Slavkov's citizens during the first half of the 18th century.
What did change then, however, was the Kounic's seat which, originally a gothic structure, was rebuilt into a Rennaisance chateau (probably a four-wing structure with square layout, arcades and a mighty tower) and later into a Baroque chateau. This last reconstruction was ordered by Dominik Ondrej of Kounic (1654-1705), an imperial envoy who, besides the Netherlands, Germany and England, lived for a while in Paris and got acquainted with the then new trends in art and architecture. He was determined to apply his knowledge and experience also in his own estate. The grandiose project was designed by Italian architect Domenico Martinelli of Luca (1650-1718) who influenced to a large extent the builders' purpose by his own artistic views. The original Renaissance structure was almost completely removed and on its site, during the period of fifty yaers, watched by three generations of the Kounics, a chateau complex arose which reflects the development from Roman Baroque to Classicism.
This development is best documented in the interiors. The oldest, central, wing of the chateau, built before 1701, shelters perfectly preserved ceiling decoration, created by Italian artists. Frescoes by Andreas Lanzanus, stuccowork by Santino Bussi, and sculptures by G. Giuliani coexist here in perfect harmony. A different style is evident in the Historical hall, decorated by Austrian court painter Josef Pichler (1767), and in the chapel.
The whole complex was completed with a French garden, in the 1970s partially reconstructed into its original appearance, which gradually fades into a large English park.
A part of the Kounics' collection of paintings is exhibited at the chateau, together with a collection of 18th century furniture. The original Kounics' collection of paintings (at the end of the 18th cetury) contained about two thousand paintings by leading European artists.
Both Napoleon's stay at the chateau, from December 3 to December 7, 1805, after the Battle of Austerlitz, and signing of the armistice between France and the Habsburk Monarchy on December 6, 1805, are documented at the chateau by special exhibitions.
Another important monument is the Classicist Church of the Lord's Resurrection, built between the years 1786-1789, according to the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Paris, by Austrian court architect Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg.
Beneath the Baroque Church of St. John the Baptist, built by Maxmilian Oldrich of Kounic, there is the family crypt of the Kounics. Seven members of the family are buried there, among them Vaclav Antonin Dominik, Prince Kounic-Rietberg (1711-1794), a state minister and a chancellor to the Emperess Mary Teresa, Joseph II., Leopold II., and the Emperor Francis II. He was the first Austrian diplomat who suggested the treaty of alliance between France and the Habsburk Monarchy during the wars with Prussia. Later he obtained hereditary title of prince and the Order of the Golden Fleece.
The important share of the Jewish community on the development of Slavkov is documented by a part of the former Jewish town, with well preserved synagogue, built in 1858, and the rabbi's house from the beginning of the 19th century.