Hrobka Lichtenštejnů ve Vranově Tomb

The Liechtenstein mausoleum is located in the crypt of the Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary in Vranov u Brna. The church belongs to the Pauline convent Aula Virginis and is a significant Marian pilgrimage site in Moravia. The mausoleum is the only European burial place of the rulers of one state that lies on the territory of another state. All fourteen reigning princes from Liechtenstein rest here, from Charles the First to Francis the First, as well as another forty-eight members of their immediate family.

The church was founded in sixteen seventeen by Maximilian of Liechtenstein and his wife Catherine of Černá Hora z Boskovic. The inspiration came from a series of miraculous healings of pilgrims. It was one of the first Baroque structures in Moravia. The Italian architect Giovanni Maria Filippi developed the design and the Brno builder Ondřej Erna carried out the construction. The crypt served as the family burial vault from the beginning. Also buried here is Maximilian's brother Charles the First, the first prince of Liechtenstein. However, the original crypt soon proved insufficient. At the burial of John Adam the First, the founder of the Liechtenstein Principality, it also became apparent that water was seeping into it.

The new part of the mausoleum was created between eighteen eighteen and eighteen twenty-one under Prince John the First, a field marshal from the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The project was developed by the prince's chief building inspector Josef František Engel. He had the foundations of the entire church deepened and built a drainage system and a network of ventilation ducts. The entrance portal with Doric columns bears a tympanum with the princely coat of arms. It is guarded by two seated angels with lowered extinguished torches, a sign of the end of earthly pilgrimage. In front of the staircase stands a sculptural group of Farewell and Reunion. The sculptural decoration was created by the Viennese sculptor Josef Klieber. Fourteen steps lead to an iron grille, beyond which opens a three-aisled burial chapel with cross vaults on Doric columns. Behind the altar lies the original mausoleum. In the side aisles are sarcophagi and coffins and the space is lit by six windows above the level of the square.

In nineteen forty-five the mausoleum was confiscated. Inappropriate concrete work around the church later damaged the ventilation and insulation. Moisture destroyed the masonry, the catafalques and the wooden coffins. Prince Hans Adam the Second therefore decided to have the mausoleum repaired at his family's expense, at a cost of more than fifty-four million crowns. The reconstruction took place between twenty twelve and twenty fifteen and heating was built into the columns. Due to the sensitive climate the mausoleum is not open to the public. The last burial here took place in nineteen ninety-two. At her own request Princess Marie Benedikta, the aunt of Prince Francis Joseph the Second, rests here.