Conservation & Economic Enhancement Plan for Valtice Zamek & Its Environs

During the summer of 1993, World Monuments Fund, in conjunction with Greenways/Zelene Stezky, organized a charrette to plan for the restoration of the zamek, or castle, of Valtice, situated in Southern Moravia of the Czech Republic. Designed in the Baroque idiom by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach, Domenico Martinelli, and Anton Johann Ospel, the zamek of Valtice is one of the critical features of a cultural landscape comprising 200 square kilometers between Valtice and the neighboring town of Lednice. The participants of the charrette proposed that the Czech government should grant a lease to a newly-established, non-profit operating entity, giving it the right to operate and sublease Valtice zamek and its surrounding landscape. Revenue from profitable operations such as the proposed hotel, restaurants, and summer dance festival would then be reinvested into the conservation of the buildings and grounds.