MORAVIAN REGIONAL ARCHIVE - STATE DISTRICT ARCHIVE BŘECLAV WITH SEAT IN MIKULOV

The archival tradition in Mikulov dates back to the time of the Dietrichsteins, who kept both their family archives and all documents of a commercial nature from all their dominions in Mikulov. In contrast to the Dietrichstein family archives, which were looked after in an exemplary manner, the town archive in Mikulov never had a specialist archivist or suitable premises. It was not until June 27, 1947, by a decision of the Mikulov District National Committee, that the District and Town Archives in Mikulov were established, which were responsible for the entire Mikulov district at that time. At that time, there was no other archive in the later Břeclav district. In Břeclav, the archives were stored in three rooms of a private apartment, the majority of which were unfortunately burned down during an Allied air raid on Břeclav in November 1944. In Hustopeče, the archives were looked after by the Brno-venkov archive, which already existed at the time.

Thanks to the existence of the archive in Mikulov, after an administrative reform in 1960 and the creation of the Břeclav district in its current form, it was decided to establish a new district archive in Mikulov, even though Mikulov did not become a district town. At that time, the archive was housed in the recently renovated Mikulov Chateau, and although there were suitable premises for storing archival materials, the situation was far from ideal in terms of office space and other necessary equipment. It was possible to acquire the canons' residence at Conscription No. 6 on the main square for these purposes, which was renovated in 1964 to meet the archive's needs. The newly acquired premises were immediately used to store court records as well as archival materials taken over from the Regional Archives in Brno. A year later, the archive also acquired the neighboring building at Conscription No. 4, which was adapted for offices, a library and a photo workshop. The archive remained in these premises for more than 30 years.

In addition to the basic archival work, which consists of the removal of archival material, control of registries and filing of archival materials, great attention was paid to local history work in Mikulov as early as the beginning of the 1960s, with the resulting publication of research results. For this reason, a local history anthology has been published since 1965, which is now known as Jižní Morava [South Moravia]. During its existence, this journal has become a platform for regional historians and archivists as well as university teachers and academics, where they publish the results of their research work from the whole of South Moravia, i.e. the districts of Brno-Venkov, Břeclav, Hodonín and Znojmo.

During the 1970s and especially in the 1980s, the archive had to deal with an increasingly agonizing lack of space. After various proposals for solutions that were not implemented, a department store in Mikulov that was no longer in use was purchased in 1997 to meet the archive's needs, and in the autumn of the following year its reconstruction into a district archive began, during which a completely new four-storey depository for almost 6 kilometers of archival records was built in the inner courtyard. In November 2000, the archive was able to welcome its first researchers after the conversion and arduous move had been completed. Since August 2002, the Břeclav Regional State Archives, based in Mikulov, have been part of the Moravian Regional Archives in Brno as a result of an administrative reform.

Basic features of the holdings on the history of the House of Liechtenstein family
The Břeclav Regional State Archives, based in Mikulov, currently manages 1732 archival collections amounting to 4200 linear meters. These mainly include documents from state offices, towns and municipalities, the judiciary, schools, cooperatives, associations, cultural institutions, churches, etc. Also important and frequently used by researchers are the personal collections of important personalities from the region, many of whom are well known abroad. In view of the fact that a significant part of the area currently covered by the Mikulov Archives belonged to the House of Liechtenstein in the past, the Břeclav Regional State Archives in Mikulov hold a large number of archival documents that can be used in historical research on the House of Liechtenstein. These are not documents of a personal nature, but exclusively those created in the course of municipal and town administration by Liechtenstein citizens and their officials.

Of greatest importance here is probably the extensive archive holdings of the town of Valtice (1290-1945), which, in addition to a number of documents, also contain a wealth of records documenting the administration of this Liechtenstein residence town. The Archive města Hustopeče [Archive of the town of Auspitz] (1362-1945), which was also owned by the Liechtensteiners, can be used in a similar way - especially for the more recent period of the 18th and 19th centuries. Also worth mentioning are the plans of the churches in Poštorná and Ladná from the beginning of the 20th century drawn up by the princely architect Karl Weinbrenner, which are kept in the archives of the respective municipalities. Evidence of relationships between the Liechtenstein family and their employees or people living in the area of their family property in general can also be found in the holdings of the political administration and court administration, for example in the archives of the district offices, district courts, etc.

In contrast, there are no archival documents from the Liechtenstein period among the documents from Mikulov, the former Moravian headquarters of the House of Liechtenstein, as they all fell victim to the numerous fires in the town. The archive has an extensive library for the needs of researchers, containing 25 thousand volumes including many foreign-language monographs and periodicals relating to the South Moravian region.

Overview of the holdings of the House of Liechtenstein family
Archive města Valtice [Archive of the town of Feldsberg] (1295-1944)
Archive města Hustopeče [Archive of the town of Auspitz] (1362-1945 (1949))
Archive obce Lednice [Archive of the municipality of Eisgrub] (1567-1945 (1948))
Archive města Břeclav [Archive of the town of Lundenburg] (1625-1945 (1957))
Archive města Podivín [Archive of the town of Kostel] (1637-1945)
Archive obce Ladná [Archive of the village of Rampersdorf] (1848-1945 (1950))
Map and plan collection (1797-2005)