Slavkov u Brna

Slavkov u Brna, known in German as Austerlitz, is a town of about 7,300 inhabitants in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, about 16 kilometres east of Brno. It lies on the Litava River on the border of the Litenčice Hills, the Dyje-Svratka Valley and the Ždánice Forest. The area was given to the Teutonic Order at the end of the 12th century, the first written mention dates from 1237, and King Wenceslaus IV promoted the settlement to a town in 1416. From 1509 the Kaunitz family held it for more than four centuries and made it their main seat, and the Baroque Slavkov Castle was rebuilt in the 1680s by the architect Domenico Martinelli. The Battle of Austerlitz of 1805 was fought near the town and named after it, and an armistice between France and Austria was signed in the castle afterwards. The historic centre is protected as an urban monument zone.