Name of Monument:

Mikulov Town

Also known as:

Nikolsburg

Location:

Mikulov, Moravia, Czech Republic

Date:

1680–1720

Artists:

Giovanni Giacomo Tencalla (c. 1600–c. 1650), Giovanni Tencalla, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656 Graz – 1723 Vienna), Anton Riga, Christian Alexander Oedtl (1654 Paznaun – 1731 Vienna), Ignaz Lengelacher (1698 Unter Peissenberg – 1780 Baden), Heinrich Gottfried Forster, Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724, Langenargen am Bodensee – 1796 Vienna)

Denomination / Type of monument:

Secular – residential town

Patron(s):

Counts Dietrichstein: Adam of Dietrichstein (1575–1590), Cardinal and Count Franz of Dietrichstein (1570–1636), Ferdinand of Dietrichstein (1655–1698), Leopold of Dietrichstein (1748–1784), Walter Xaver of Dietrichstein (1664–1738)

History:

The Dietrichsteins acquired the demesne in 1575 when Cardinal Dietrichstein became ruler of Moravia after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. He was a leading figure in the Czech Counter-Reformation and made Mikulov his seat and the hub of Moravia. Summoning the Capuchin and Piarist orders (1611; 1636), he created a centre for the Catholic Church with both sacred and secular buildings. Mikulov was damaged by fire in 1663, 1719, 1784 and 1945 and the Cardinal’s residence has consequently undergone several reconstructions which have, however, held true to the original functional and spatial intentions.

Description:

The dominant landmarks of the town are Sv. Kopeček (Holy Hill), the Loreto) Chapel, the Holy Trinity Column, the Upper Synagogue, the monasteries, the Jewish quarter and a mannerist chateau, originally part of a medieval castle. An extravagant entrance to the chateau was constructed together with a theatre and a “Hall of Ancestors”, decorated with murals featuring portraits of significant family members. Cardinal Dietrichstein also created one of the largest libraries in Europe with a collection of books that was further expanded by items confiscated from Protestant libraries and which was looted in turn by the Swedish army in 1645. Today’s collection, dating from the 18th century, consists of the Dietrichstein family’s libraries acquired through purchase or inheritance. Situated opposite the chateau, in the lower section of the square facing Svatý Kopeček, is a chapel, originally modelled on an Italian Loreto to symbolise the birthplace of Christ, in which the family’s dead are interred. J. B. Fischer von Erlach designed its reconstruction in 1700 but who was responsible for its current form is not clear. The original Renaissance frontage with a tower was replaced by a monumental facade between 1704 and 1708. The sculptures are by the Brno artist, A. Riga, and the reliefs by M. Roth.

Inhabited since pre-history, Mikulov is a small town in south Moravia. Cardinal Dietrichstein, ruler of Moravia after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 and a leading figure in the Czech Counter-Reformation, made his seat the hub of Moravia. Parts of a medieval castle were incorporated into a mannerist chateau where the cardinal created one of the largest libraries in Europe. He had a pilgrimage chapel built, modelled on an Italian Loreto and one of the first of its kind in Czech lands. Part of the town was an important cultural centre for the Jewish community.

How Monument was dated:

Dating is based on historical events: the buildings were reconstructed after the fires and looting of the Thirty Years’ War. Contracts and receipts for individual reconstructions are extant, in particular those of G. G. Tencalla and I. Lengelacher, who also signed the Holy Trinity Column. A number of buildings did not survive the vicissitudes of history but are, however, mentioned in written sources (garden design by Jean Trehet (1700–1708); paintings by Anton Josef Prenner).

Special features

Loreto and the so-called Náchod Chapel (St Anna church)

Church of St. Anne, Mikulov

1636–1654

Giovanni Giacomo Tencalla – Giovanni Tencalla

The Cardinal had a pilgrimage chapel built within the Capuchin Monastery in 1622. The chapel, modelled on an Italian Loreto to symbolise the Holy stable, the birthplace of Christ, was the first of its kind in Czech lands. In 1636 the Church of St. Anne was constructed next to the chapel, with a statue of the Black Madonna the scourge of the heretics. The complex was richly decorated with statues and stuccos. The church and the Loreto were destroyed by fire; only the chancel and the Náchod Chapel survive.

Svatý Kopeček (Holy Hill)

Mikulov

1623, 1672–1679

Part of Cardinal Dietrichstein’s Counter-Reformation strategy was the construction of the Church of St. Sebastian on Tanzberg Hill. This pilgrimage church, with 13 chapels of the Stations of the Cross, was intended to turn a rocky hill, redolent with pagan legend, into a “Holy Mount” modelled on Varallo in northern Italy. The original church (G. G. Tencalla) was re-established after 1663 and in 18th and 19th centuries.

“Amtshof” or the Ceremonial Courtyard

Castle, Mikulov

1726–1730

Christian Alexander Oedtl (1654 Paznaun – 1731 Vienna), Ignaz Lengelacher (1698 Unter Peissenberg – 1780 Baden), Heinrich Gottfried Forster

In 1719 a fire destroyed the chateau interiors. Reconstruction was undertaken by C. A. Oedtl, who unified the chateau complex with a single frontage. He also rebuilt several other houses in the town. A ballroom was converted into a winter riding hall, and the theatre hall was reconstructed into a library; a sala terrena with a terrace was added and the ceremonial courtyard was refurbished, lined with busts of ancient emperors, and further decorated with putti and ornamental vases. The wrought-iron gates by H. G. Forster are original.

Holy Trinity Column

Main Square, Mikulov

1724

Anton Josef Prenner (1683 Wallerstein – 1761 Wien) – Ignaz Lengelacher (1698 Unter Peissenberg – 1780 Baden)

A hexagonal stepped base carries a trilateral concave pedestal the columns of which support a sculpture of God the Father, Christ in heaven, and a pyramid crowned with the symbol of the Holy Spirit on a radial halo. The statues of the Immaculata and the saints are by the court sculptor, Lengelacher, after the painter, A. J. Prenner. The bottom section features allegories of Love, Faith and Hope, and emblems of the patrons.

Upper Synagogue

Mikulov

1719–1723, 1819, 1840, 1892, 1977–1990

Form the 15th century onwards, part of the area below the chateau became a cultural and spiritual centre for the Moravian Jewish community. There was a Talmudic school, 12 synagogues and other places of worship. In the second half of the 16th century the legendary Rabbi Löw, allegedly the creator of the Prague golem, worked there. After a fire, the buildings and the synagogue were restored by master builders of the court. The synagogue is the only extant example of a “Polish-style” temple in Czech lands. It features four cupolas supported by four columns standing in the centre of a hall. The adjacent Jewish cemetery is among the largest and oldest in the Czech Republic.

Selected bibliography:

Miloš Stehlík – Metoděj Zemek, Mikulov, Brno, 1971.
Miloš Stehlík, Der Bildhauer Ignaz Lengelacher und sein Werk in Mähren, Jahrbuch der staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Würtemberg 18, 1981, pp. 59–78.
Jaroslav Klenovský, Židovské památky Mikulova, Mikulov, 1994.
Luboš Antonín, Dietrichsteinská knihovna na zámku Mikulov, Sborník národního muzea v Praze C 39–49, 1994–1995, pp. 1–28.
Bohumil Samek, Umělecké památky Moravy a Slezska II, J–N, Praha, 1999, pp. 482–503.

Citation of this web page:

Zora Wörgötter "Mikulov Town" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;cz;Mon11_H;1;en

Prepared by: Zora WörgötterZora Wörgötter

SURNAME: Wörgötter
NAME: Zora

AFFILIATION: Moravian Gallery in Brno

TITLE: Museum Curator and Local Co-ordinator

CV:
Zora Wörgötter studied Applied Painting at the Secondary School of Applied Arts, Video Art (Faculty of Fine Arts) at the University of Technology in Brno and Art History and Ethnology (Faculty of Arts) at Masaryk University, Brno. She has worked at the Moravian Gallery since 1997 and was curator of the Ancient Art Collection up until 2008. Specialising in Dutch and Central European painting of the 17th and 18th centuries, she has participated in the preparation of several exhibitions, catalogues and research projects in the Czech Republic and abroad, and published in the Moravian Gallery Bulletin, Opuscula historiae artium, and other journals. She is co-ordinator of the Art History Database www.ahice.net for the Czech Republic.
Copyedited by: Jiří KroupaJiří Kroupa

SURNAME: Kroupa
NAME: Jiří

AFFILIATION: Department of the History of Art (Faculty of Arts) Masaryk
University, Brno

TITLE: Professor

CV:
Professor Jiří Kroupa studied Art History, History and Sociology Masaryk University, Brno. He was a curator at the Kroměříž Museum and the Moravian Gallery in Brno before joining the staff at Masaryk University in 1988 (Head of the Department 1992–2002; Professor 1999 to present). His particular fields of interest are in the history of architecture, 18th-century cultural history and the methodology of art history. His long list of publications includes an edition on the architect Franz Anton Grimm and an essay “The alchemy of happiness: the Enlightenment in the Moravian context”. He was contributing editor for the volume Dans le miroir des ombres. Moravie a la age baroque. 1670–1790 (2002).
Translation by: Irma Charvátová
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: CZ 01