Mikulov is a Moravian town whose history is documented in writing from 1173 and which from the beginning of the 17th century was transformed into the residence of the princely House of Dietrichstein.
Mikulov is a town in Moravia. The first written mention of it relates to the year 1173. As early as 1414 it had roughly 2,500 inhabitants, and the buildings of the time consisted of a fairly small fortified core and extensive suburbs [1].
Seigniorial administration and development
From 1249 to 1560 the estate centred on Mikulov belonged to the House of Liechtenstein. From 1575 to 1945 the town was ruled by the Dietrichsteins, under whom it went through its greatest boom. After 1575 an extensive Renaissance reconstruction took place there [1].
A key role in reshaping Mikulov was played by Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein, Bishop of Olomouc. After taking over the estate in 1611 he had the town improved in terms of building, economy and culture so that it matched his standing. His inclination towards Italian Renaissance culture was also reflected in his choice of architects, and thanks to this the provincial small town became a temporary centre of Moravia [1].
Disasters and building development
The inner town was struck by fires in 1536 and 1561, which almost completely destroyed its Gothic appearance [1]. The town's development was slowed by the Swedish occupation in 1645 and by the subsequent damage caused by the Turkish and Hungarian wars, to which further fires in 1663 and 1719 were added [1].
Architects and builders such as Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Lukas von Hildebrandt and later Ignác Lengelacher took part in construction work in Mikulov [1]. The most destructive fire in the town's history occurred in 1784 and affected over 350 houses, damaging the Baroque character of the buildings. The restoration of the houses afterwards proceeded slowly and modestly. Even so, at the end of the 18th century Mikulov had 7,440 inhabitants in 760 houses [1].
The 19th and 20th centuries
The construction of the railway link between Brno and Vienna via Břeclav in the middle of the 19th century meant that Mikulov remained outside the main trade routes, which caused a gradual depopulation of the town, mainly through residents leaving for Vienna. After the patrimonial offices ceased to exist in 1848, the town became the seat of a district captaincy and a district court [1].
On 22 April 1945 Mikulov Castle burned down almost to its foundations. Its restoration followed a design by the architect Otakar Oplatek, who also took part in building residential houses in the war-ravaged town [1].
The wartime events and the postwar approach to the historical heritage affected most the western part of the historic core, where the Jewish quarter had stood. In the 1960s about 227 houses were demolished there across the area, including the Lower Synagogue. Only part of the original buildings on Husova Street was preserved. From the 1960s the town expanded mainly to the southwest, where three- to four-storey prefabricated panel housing was built, and an industrial zone was built west of the town. After the public administration reform, Mikulov has been the seat of a municipality with extended competence of the third level since 2003 [1].
Ethnic and religious coexistence
Thanks to its geographical position, the town was a meeting place of cultural and religious currents of various ethnic groups, whose traces are still visible in Mikulov. Besides the coexistence of Czechs and Germans, a Jewish community formed here from the middle of the 15th century, one of the strongest in Moravia. From 1526 Mikulov was the first town in the Czech lands where Anabaptists, also known as Hutterites, settled and were active for almost a hundred years [1].