Old post office – Stara Posta

After a two year reconstruction, the so-called Old Pozoricka Post Office was reopened on 29 April 1995 (today, it is a private building). It was built in 1785 and served as living quarters for the postmaster, as well as post office and guest room. It was built in order to make the post office network more dense between Brno and Vyškov. It served this purpose until 1879, when it was moved to Pozořice. In the 20th century this historic structure became dilapidated, as it was used as a warehouse for fertilizer for crop production.

 

 

Emperor Napoleon I, along with his marshals, spent some time here in the afternoon of 28 November 1805, before the memorable battle at Slavkov.  He returned here on 3 December in the early morning with Marshals Joachim Murat (1767-1815) and Jean Lannes (1769-1809), after the Russian lieutenant general Duke Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (1765-1812) had left the building, which had served as his command post.According to legend, the triumphant Emperor, sitting on a bale of hay, listened to an account the capitulation of the defeated allies by the Austrian negotiator Lieutenant Marshal Duke Jan Josef Lichtenstein (1760-1836), who was, coincidentally, the owner of the Pozor estates, within the territory of which the mentioned post office was located. The emissaries were supposed to negotiate a truce with the Emperor and arrange a personal meeting with Emperor Francis I.

 

 

In the building complex surrounding the original flagstone courtyard, there is now a small museum of the Slavkov battle, the exhibits of which will gradually be filled out with originals and replicas of items and documents related to the battle, and there is also a baroque stable with a riding school, a period restaurant and wine cellar, and a historic shooting range designated for the use of replicas of historic firearms, probably the only one within the Czech Republic. In the souvenir shop you can get commemorative coins made on location.