The story
Valtice Castle, then part of Duchy of Austria and called Feldsberg, was probably founded in the 11th century. The first written mention of the village of Feldsberg is in a 1192 deed (as Veldesperch); held by the Lords of Seefeld, it was located close to the border with Moravia. Probably between 1192 and 1227, Feldsberg became a town. In 1270, the Lords of Seefeld died out and the estate, divided into six parts with different owners, changed hands several times. Between 1387 and 1395, the Liechtenstein family gradually acquired the entire estate.
During the Hussite Wars, the Liechtensteins were on the side of Sigismund. In 1426, the town was burned out by the Hussites. The town was again devastated by the troops of the Bohemian king George of Poděbrady in 1458 as well as in the Austrian–Hungarian War by the forces of King Matthias Corvinus in 1480. The renewal and prosperity occurred in the first half of the 16th century, during the rule of Hartman I of Liechtenstein.
In the mid 16th century, the citizens converted to Protestantism; however they were subjected to the measures of the Counter-Reformation under the rule of Karl I of Liechtenstein, who himself had converted to Catholicism in 1599. During the Thirty Years' War, the town was again plundered by the troops under the command of Gabriel Bethlen in 1619, by the troops of Henri Duval Dampierre in the same year, and later conquered by Swedish forces under General Lennart Torstensson.
After the war, the town became the principal seat of the Liechtensteins. Prince Karl Eusebius had rebuilt the castle and had built a new parish church, finished in 1671. He also issued an order to establish forests east from the town. His descendants continued his work. His son and later his nephew had extended the castle and had the monastery of the Brothers Hospitallers built. The overall appearance of the town changed greatly between 1648 and 1781.
Until the end of World War I, the town belonged to Lower Austria. According to the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the town and its surroundings were annexed by newly established Czechoslovakia and was renamed Valtice. The main reason was the requirement that the entire Znojmo–Břeclav railway line, a branch of the former Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway, remain inside Czechoslovak territory. The Liechtenstein princely family lost its privileges with the collapse of Austria-Hungary. Valtice served as the Liechtenstein's residence continuously until 1939. The town was occupied by Nazi Germany upon the 1938 Munich Agreement and incorporated into the Reichsgau Niederdonau. After World War II the remaining German-speaking population was expelled and the castle was confiscated by the Czechoslovak government; all claims for restitution have been rejected.
From Wikipedia’s article on Valtice, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5