Supreme Court rejects Liechtenstein family’s appeal over Břeclav estates

The Czech Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of the Liechtenstein family in their dispute over former family estates in the Břeclav region in southern Moravia, including the castles in Lednice and Valtice. The Liechtenstein Prince Foundation claimed ownership of the property, now held by the state, but failed in lower courts in Břeclav and Brno.

The Supreme Court ruled without a public hearing. Its full reasoning has not yet been published.

Since late 2018, the Foundation filed lawsuits in 26 district courts, including Břeclav, arguing that the last holder of the estates, Prince Franz Josef II, was a citizen of neutral Liechtenstein, not Germany, and head of a sovereign state. Therefore, they claimed, the confiscation of the property was illegal. The Foundation has also appealed to the Supreme and Constitutional Courts multiple times, but so far without success.