The landscape between the former borderland castles in Mikulov and Falkenstein used to be one continuous area.
The locality is about 4 km southeast of the centre of the City of Mikulov, on an elevated place named Quiet Island (formerly Portz Insel). In the present-day peninsula part of which is surrounded by Nový pond, you will see the summer residence, later rebuilt as a hunting lodge.
The uniqueness of the landscape along the border of South Moravia and Lower Austria evolved, and is still embodied in both its towns and nature reserves, situated in the Moravian and Austrian parts of the Pavlov Hills and the surrounding area, in the landscape parks of the Lednice-Valtice complex and also existence of the large cultural landscape between Mikulov and Vienna.
During the period from about the 11th to 13th centuries the whole area had become the property of feudal lords, and this strong historical bond was preserved until WW II. A varied array of the unique monuments related to the evolution of landscape from ancient times to the present has been preserved on both sides of the Moravian-Austrian border.
This area between Vienna and Mikulov became rich first of all thanks to the extraordinary financial potential of the then land owners – the Dietrichsteins, the Liechtensteins, the families of Fünfkirchen, of Sinzendorf, of Harrach and many other noble families. The members of these families belonged to the rich nobility of the Austro–Hungarian Monarchy, most of them were mutually related and held large estates on both sides of the border. Their wealth, broad cultural vision, purposefulness, ambition and other contemporary values, along with the effect of positive rivalry, are permanently imprinted on the distinctive character of the landscape.
