At the beginning of the 13th century, the Teutonic Order built a
monastery stronghold whose remains can still be seen today in the vaults
of the Austerlitz Palace. The first written testimony about the place
date from 1237. The Czech name Slavkov is first documented in 1361, the
German name Austerlitz in 1633 and is said to be a truncation of the
Czech Novosedlice (Novosedlicz, Nausedlicz), which means "new
settlement", although this cannot be clarified definitively. After the
defeat of the Order in the Battle of Grunwald, the town became the
property of a number of noble owners until, in 1509, the local gentry
family of Kaunitz assumed control for more than 400 years
